Home Secretary Yvette Cooper to Highlight Record Success Tackling People Smugglers Amid Asylum Crisis

Home secretary Yvette Cooper will highlight record success in tackling people smugglers as the Government faces growing pressure to address the surge in small boat crossings and asylum seeker hotel accommodations. Cooper will present reforms to strengthen border security and overhaul the asylum system, aiming to eventually end the use of asylum hotels. The planned changes also include improvements to the refugee family reunion process to ensure greater fairness and balance.

Key Takeaways:

• The Government plans to introduce reforms to the border security and asylum system, including new rules to manage the asylum process and end the use of asylum hotels.
• The National Crime Agency (NCA) led 347 disruptions of immigration crime networks in 2024/25, with a 40 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.
• The NCA-backed efforts in Europe have squeezed the supply of boats and engines destined for the French coast, with 45 dinghies seized in operations at the Bulgarian border in July and August.
• The number of boats crossing the English Channel in August was the lowest since 2019, with 55 making the crossing, according to the latest figures.
• The 3,567 arrivals in August was the lowest since 2021, but the 29,003 across the whole of 2025 so far is the highest on record for this point in a year.
• The Home Office has announced measures, including the detention of the first migrants under the "one in, one out" deal with France, and the first deportations back across the Channel are set to take place in the coming weeks.
• The Government has a "proud record of giving sanctuary to those fleeing persecution" but the system "needs to be properly controlled and managed, so the rules are respected and enforced, and so governments, not criminal gangs, decide who comes to the UK."

Sources:

• The source of this information is reported by [Bryony Gooch] and attributed to [Home secretary Yvette Cooper].