Migration has been a hot topic in the UK for several years, and under the Labour government, it has only ramped up.
Illegal immigration, small boats, legal migration, visas, asylum seeker hotels, the ECHR – the issue is not going away.
Labour promised to “smash the gangs”, but the number of people crossing the Channel in small boats has reached a record level in their first year in government.
So, Sky News has taken a look at what Sir Keir Starmer’s government is doing around migration, what has been tried before and what other parties suggest.
What is the government doing?
Sir Keir Starmer has said he wants the UK’s immigration system to be more selective, controlled and fair, and the asylum system to be more efficient.
Asylum hotels and claims
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An extremely contentious issue that has seen protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers since Labour came to power in July 2024.
The Labour Party manifesto pledged to halt the use of hotels for asylum seekers by the end of the current parliament in 2029.
In September, Sir Keir said he wants every asylum hotel closed before that date, but has not committed to when.
However, figures show there were 2,474 more asylum seekers staying in hotels in June 2025 compared with June 2024, just before the general election.
And there were 210 asylum hotels open in July 2025, just two fewer than in July 2024.
June’s spending review saw Chancellor Rachel Reeves pledging £200m to “cut the asylum backlog, hear more appeal cases and return people who have no right to be here”.
An extra £150m has been allocated to speed up planned reforms of the asylum system in 2026-27 and £50m more in 2027-28.
The money will come from the £3.25bn Transformation Fund created to modernise public services.
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Ministers said hotels can only be phased out by cutting small boat crossings and building new government-owned accommodation for asylum seekers.
Home Office minister Dame Angela Eagle has said the government is looking to buy tower blocks and former student accommodation as a hotel alternative.
Border Security Command
Labour established a new Home Office unit as soon as it won the election, to provide leadership for UK border security to tackle organised immigration crime and people smuggling gangs.
It links up Border Force, the National Crime Agency, immigration enforcement and other intelligence and police to tackle small boat crossings and has been tasked with developing a long-term strategy to manage border security threats.
BSC works with other countries such as Iraq and Germany to tackle international smuggling networks.
Increased returns
Labour promised to increase returns of illegal immigrants and to set up a returns and enforcement unit with 1,000 extra staff to fast-track returns.
The government has said it has redeployed staff to the unit but not said how many.
Between July 2024 and July 2025, there were 35,052 returns – up 13% compared with the same period 12 months before.
However, just 9,115 of those were forcibly removed, Home Office data shows.
Refugee family reunion rules
In September 2025, the home secretary said the government is temporarily suspending new applications for the refugee family reunion route because too many people are applying for family to join them as soon as they receive refugee status, instead of waiting a couple of years.
She said the rules will be changed and could include longer periods before refugees can apply for family to join, contribution requirements and dedicated arrangements for unaccompanied children.
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One in, one out pilot with France
The government made an agreement with France to allow the UK to return migrants who crossed the Channel on small boats back to France, as part of a pilot scheme.
In exchange, the UK will accept asylum seekers from France who have applied through a safe and legal route, and have not attempted to enter illegally previously.
The government has not said how many people will be returned or given asylum each week.
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The NCA
The National Crime Agency (NCA) has been working with France’s Police Nationale since 2020 to target people smugglers in northern France.
In August 2025, the Home Office said it will put a further £100m to fund a further 300 NCA officers to tackle people smugglers
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in September 2025, the NCA had led 347 disruptions of immigration crime networks over the past year, their highest level on record and a 40% increase in a year.
However, she said 84% of those disruptions are classified as not being high impact and NCA arrests for organised immigration crime fell by 16% in the last financial year.
Skilled worker visas
The skills threshold and salary requirements needed to get a skilled worker visa have been increased.
Recruiting social care workers from overseas has been ended.
And the charge employers pay to sponsor migrant workers has increased to encourage investment in domestic skills.
In July 2025, the list of jobs eligible for a skilled worker visa was reduced and the Commons’ Migration Advisory Committee is reviewing which medium-skilled jobs should be on the list after the end of 2026.
English language standards requirements for people on the skilled worker visa have also been raised.
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Dependents
Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government stopped most international students bringing their partner and children from January 2024.
The same was applied to care workers applying for a visa after March 2024.
Labour continued these initiatives.
ECHR
Article 8 (the right to family life) of the European Convention on Human Rights has been used to halt deportations of illegal migrants.
The home secretary said the government will aim to “reform the way” it is interpreted in the UK but has not called for the UK to leave it.
What has been tried before?
Rwanda
Probably the Conservatives’ most famous migration policy, they aimed to send illegal immigrants or asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, asylum and resettlement.
Successful asylum claimants would have remained in Rwanda and would not have been permitted to return to the UK, while the British government would have invested in a development fund for Rwanda and financially supported migrants’ relocation and accommodation costs to move to the East African country.
Proposed under the Boris Johnson, Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak governments, it never got off the ground – literally – as the first flight was halted by the European Court of Human Rights.
After a series of back-and-forth rulings by the UK’s highest courts, the Supreme Court eventually ruled it was legal as Rwanda was a safe country.
Sir Keir Starmer immediately cancelled the plan on winning the election. The total cost is estimated to be £700m – and only four migrants were voluntarily relocated.
The Albania deal
Under the Johnson and Sunak governments, the UK agreed a returns deal with Albania, so any Albanians entering the UK illegally or violating their visa requirements could be returned automatically. This also applied to British people violating Albanian immigration laws.
Military bases and a boat
In an attempt to cut down on hotels being used for asylum seekers, the Sunak government announced two ex-military bases would be used to house asylum seekers.
For nearly two and a half years, the Bibby Stockholm barge was moored at Portland Port in Dorset as it housed up to 500 single adult male asylum seekers at a time.
What do others suggest now?
Leave international agreements
Several Conservatives and Reform have pushed for the UK to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) as they say it is successfully being used by foreign offenders to challenge their deportation from the UK.
Kemi Badenoch has launched a commission to investigate how the ECHR and other international agreements “hold Britain back”.
Nigel Farage also said Reform would repeal the Human Rights Act, the UN Convention Against Torture and the Refugee Convention.
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Deport all small boat migrants
Reform leader Mr Farage said he would detain and deport “absolutely anyone” who comes to the UK illegally via small boat.
He said that could be achieved by repealing human rights laws.
Migrant camps
Tory leader Ms Badenoch said asylum seekers should be housed in camps, which could be policed, instead of hotels.
She said they would be built like the Nightingale pop-up hospitals during the pandemic.
