More than 1,100 people convicted of illegal arrival in UK since 2022

More than 1,100 people, including survivors of torture and Trafficking, have been convicted of illegally arriving in the UK since 2022, according to freedom of information data.The Home Office introduced the offence of Illegal arrival in 2022 in a bid to deter those planning to come to the UK by small boat or by other irregular means such as lorries.The decision was widely condemned at the time because the refugee convention states that those seeking sanctuary should not be criminalised for the way they travel, as they often do not have the option to move legally from an unsafe country to a safe one.FoI data obtained from the Home Office by the criminologist Dr Victoria Taylor, a research fellow at the University of Manchester, reveals 1,109 people were prosecuted for Illegal arrival between July 2022 and January 2026.The data shows 628 arrived on a small boat, 296 of whom were captured on surveillance drone footage steering a dinghy. Others had previous Immigration history in the UK.Just 12 people have been convicted of the separate offence of facilitation, after steering the dinghies they arrived on. It is harder for the Home Office and Crown Prosecution Service to secure evidence that people on a dinghy were involved in organising a journey across the Channel than to prosecute them for Illegal arrival.People have been identified as having their “hand on the tiller” for many reasons, including having boating experience, steering in return for discounted passage, taking it in turns, or being under duress.In one Illegal arrival case, the Home Office settled a judicial review relating to a Trafficking survivor from South Sudan who was forced at gunpoint to pilot a small boat. Officials have now agreed to ensure greater protection for Trafficking victims in these cases.Emily Soothill, partner at Deighton Pierce Glynn, who represented the man, said: “Unfortunately it is clear from our client’s case that potential victims of Trafficking are regularly being convicted for Illegal arrival and imprisoned for many months. The concessions made in our client’s case underline the need for a robust and consistent application of the UK’s modern slavery framework to prevent survivors of Trafficking from being wrongly treated as criminals.”Some of those convicted of the various offences were survivors of torture and Trafficking, and there were at least 30 age disputed children among them, 19 of whom had spent time in adult prisons.The organisation Captain Support UK has worked with hundreds of people imprisoned in Illegal arrival cases, all of whom sought asylum in the UK in the hours before they were arrested.A spokesperson said: “We see first-hand the negative impact these prosecutions have on people and their families. We urgently call on the government to stop imprisoning people on the move. No one should be put in prison for seeking safety and a better life.”Taylor said: “The process of who is selected for prosecution is arbitrary and cruel.”She added that the most of those imprisoned for Illegal arrival since 2022 had claimed asylum in the hours before they were arrested. Many have been granted asylum since their release or have been recognised as victims of Trafficking, or both.“There are serious questions about the compatibility of these prosecutions with the refugee convention, which was drafted to prevent states from penalising refugees for how they seek safety. There is no evidence to support the government’s claims that these prosecutions will ‘deter’ people from attempting to cross the Channel,” Taylor said.The Home Office has been approached for comment.