The number of people detected trying to illegally enter Britain through its border controls in France has “fallen substantially” over the years but the threat remains “high and unrelenting”, according to the UK’s borders inspector.
A recent inspection looking into Border Force’s operations to detect and deter clandestine entrants – the term used to describe anyone trying to get past immigration controls concealed in a vehicle such as commercial lorry or ship – at the UK border posts in northern France found around 5,000 people still tried to make the illegal crossing last year.
This was down from the European migrant crisis peak of 2016, when more than 56,000 people were detected covertly entering the UK-France juxtaposed controls, which are located in Calais, Coquelles and Dunkirk.
The figures were also slightly lower than the 6,154 so-called clandestine attempts made in 2022, according to Border Force data obtained by The Grocer at the time.
The independent chief inspector of borders and immigration (ICIBI), David Bolt, said in his report that the threats still remained high, “both from organised facilitations and from opportunistic ‘jump-ups’”.
He found that resources at the British-French borders were stretched and that officers’ security operations were “closely monitored” by smuggling gangs ready “to exploit any weaknesses”.
“It is therefore vital that Border Force continues to invest in staff, detection equipment and IT systems at the juxtaposed ports”, he added.
Meanwhile, an investigation by The Grocer last year also found that despite the overall downward trajectory for clandestine entry detections in all vehicles, the number of stowaways caught entering the UK in the backs of trucks or other commercial vehicles in the first four months of 2024 actually rose to 621, nearly three times the figures recorded in the first four months of 2023.
Read more: Lorry stowaways on the rise amid growing driver safety and food waste concerns
One of the measures in place by government to deter clandestine entry is a penalty scheme that enables Border Force to levy fines on anyone found to have a clandestine entrant in their vehicle.
Bolt said the scheme – which has been heavily criticised as “unfair” by hauliers who have been slapped with fines for unknowingly carrying concealed migrants into the country – was still “not running effectively” despite being reformulated in 2023 to include stricter security requirements and amp up fines.
“It was all the more disappointing to find in this latest inspection that the team is still not staffed appropriately and does not have the systems required to run the scheme efficiently and effectively.
“This is despite the fact that the scope of the scheme was extended in 2023 to take in hauliers and lorry drivers who are found not to have secured their vehicles. At the same time, the penalties were substantially increased.”
Bolt’s report also found more work needed to be done to understand the relationships between the numbers of clandestine entrants compared with those crossing the English Channel by boat.
Many argue that small boat crossings began increasing when the UK government boosted physical security at the juxtaposed ports up to 2020, including through the installation of many miles of fencing on the approach roads.
This year alone, nearly 6,000 people have arrived on UK shores via boat as of Monday last week, according to latest Home Office figures.
This is higher than the 5,435 migrants who crossed the Channel through January, February and March in 2024, which at the time was a record for the first quarter of a calendar year.
Bolt said: “The relationship between small boats and clandestine entry through the juxtaposed ports is not well understood.
“This needs more attention, not least to get ahead of any displacement effect if new measures to reduce small boat crossings begin to work.”
Read more: Lorry drivers criticise government’s clandestine entrants scheme over ‘unfair’ fines
Supply chain experts working in recovering fmcg goods compromised by clandestine entrants using commercial lorries have previously told The Grocer that they noticed an uptick in cases being reported by customers when the former government announced plans to send asylum seekers arriving on small boats to Rwanda.
The borders security watchdog found there was “no clear or compelling evidence” of a direct relationship between the two methods of entering the UK”, but added: “It is likely that a permanent reduction in small boat crossings would have some displacement effect, including to other European ports with ferry links to the UK.”
“More work is clearly needed to try to plug this knowledge gap”, the report said. “However, it is reasonable to assume that a key point of difference is the intention of the vast majority of those arriving by small boat to claim asylum at the first opportunity, which over 90% have done, whereas a proportion of clandestine entrants hope to remain undetected in the UK for as long as possible.”
The inspection examined how staff resources and detection techniques are used and on Border Force’s engagement with security contractors, port and transport operators, and the French authorities. The findings were first shared with the Home Secretary in February and officially published last week.
The watchdog proposed seven recommendations, which included better training to frontline Border Force officers, better automatic number plate recognition data sharing between the juxtaposed controls, and a review of the civil penalties scheme.
Bolt highlighted his main concern was “that whatever improvements Border Force makes to its processes and practices as a result of this inspection, these are banked and become ‘business as usual’, so that when the ICIBI comes to look at this area again it is not having to repeat the same points”.
In its formal response, the Home Office has accepted two recommendations and partially accepted four. It said work was “already underway to modernise the way the Home Office manages the civil penalty system and since the inspection, the Integrated Platform Management system, referenced in the report, was successfully launched in February 2025, updating working practices and driving efficiencies and improvements”.
It has also since set up a newly formed Border Security Command tasked with tackling organised immigration crime at the juxtaposed controls, after inspectors noted that there was no senior leader role responsible for overseeing clandestine entry issues.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The Home Office acknowledges the need for a co-ordinated approach to tackling the clandestine threat.
“The newly established Border Security Command will deliver a major overhaul and upgrade in law enforcement, marking a significant step forward in the fight against illegal migration and criminal smuggling gangs.”
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