People thought to be migrants wade into the sea to board a small boat off the coast of Equihen-Plage, FrancePrime Minister Andy Burnham visited Dover on Sunday to tout a boost to the number of officers deployed to tackle smuggling gangs in a bid to drive down small boat crossings. Since the start of 2025, the number of National Crime Agency officers tackling organised immigration crime has more than doubled from 376 to almost 800. Mr Burnham visited Dover’s joint command room, the hub for monitoring small boat crossings, where officers from the NCA, Maritime and Coastguard Agency and the Border Security Command work to track movements across the strait using surveillance drones. Wednesday marked the busiest day for small boat crossings across the English Channel so far this year, with 752 migrants arriving in the UK. The Home Office notes that small boat crossings fluctuate because of changes in the weather, with peaks in the warmer summer months.