More than 50 people have died trying to cross the English Channel in 2024.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said he will take tougher measures to "smash" the gangs smuggling people to the UK.
The UN's International Organization for Migration (IOM) wants the government to create more safe and legal ways for migrants to reach the UK, to avoid these "preventable" deaths.
More than 27,500 people had crossed the Channel in 2024, as of 16 October.
The total is more than for the same period in 2023.
In 2023 as a whole, 29,437 people came to the UK in small boats.
The 2022 total of 45,755 was the highest since figures were first collected in 2018.
Since 2018, more than 140,000 people have come to the UK on small boats.
The IOM has been tracking the number of people who die crossing the Channel since 2014, as part of its global "missing migrants" project.
At least 199 migrants died attempting to cross the English Channel between 2018 and October 2024, according to its estimates, including 93 known to have drowned.
The total IOM figure also includes people who were travelling to a crossing point and died in other circumstances, such as car crashes or as a result of medical issues.
It says the figure of more than 50 dead in 2024 is the highest for any year since it started recording figures.
The largest single loss of life was on 3 September, when 12 people died.
In November 2021, at least 27 migrants died after a dinghy sank, the most fatalities recorded in a single incident since 2014.
In the year to June 2024, Afghans were the top nationality crossing the Channel, making up just under a fifth of all small boat arrivals.
Iranians (13%) were the second largest group, followed by arrivals from Vietnam and Turkey, both on 10%.
More than 80% of small boat arrivals in the 12 months to June 2024 were male and – where age was recorded – more than 40% were between 25 and 39 years old.
Just over 97,000 people claimed asylum in the year to the end of June 2024, according to the most recent figures.
The number of annual applications for asylum – including dependants – peaked at about 103,000 in 2002, as people fled conflicts in Afghanistan, Somalia and Iraq.
Claims then fell sharply, dropping to a 20-year low of 22,600 in 2010.
However, numbers rose again throughout the 2010s, as refugees fled Syria.
In 2022, the number of applications reached almost 100,000 again.
In the year to June 2024, the largest number came from Afghanistan, with applications made by more than 9,300 people.
Iran, Pakistan, Vietnam, India, and Bangladesh were among the other countries with most applications.
In 2022, Albanians were the top nationality with more than 17,300 people (including dependants) claiming asylum. Three-quarters arrived on small boats.
Ukrainian refugees who came to the UK after Russia's invasion of their country are not included in these figures.
As at 10 September 2024, 263,300 visas had been issued to Ukrainian refugees who have come through legal routes set up by the UK government.
There are separate arrangements for a few other specific groups to come to the UK, such as some Afghan refugees and Hong Kong citizens.
Some people wait months or even years for their claims to be considered.
At the end of June 2024 there were 85,839 cases relating to 118,882 people awaiting an initial decision.
Former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to clear older claims by the end of 2023, but 4,500 "complex cases" were still awaiting a decision at the end of December.
The Home Office can remove people with no legal right to stay in the UK, or refuse to let them enter.
In the year to the end of June 2024, 7,190 people who were not granted asylum were returned to their home country. This is up 48% on 2023, mainly because of a rise in Albanian returns.
Between 2018 and June 2024, 3,788 people who came to the UK in small boats were returned, which is 3% of all small boat arrivals in that period.
In December 2023, the Home Office revealed that only 408 non-Albanians who had come to the UK on small boats had been returned to their home countries since 2020.
In 2023, there were 263,000 arrivals by sea in Europe, with Italy receiving 60% of those.
Spain received 57,000 people and Greece 41,500.
As of 13 October 2024, more than 139,000 people had arrived into Europe via the sea since the start of the year.
In 2023, the UK had the fifth highest number of people claiming asylum in Europe.
With 329,000 applicants, Germany received more than a quarter of all first-time asylum applicants within the EU.
Spain had the second highest number (160,500) followed by France (145,000) and Italy (130,500).
In 2023, the UK government made initial decisions on 93,303 asylum applications – including people attached to them such as children or other dependents – and granted more than two thirds of them (67%).
In the same period, Germany made 217,430 asylum decisions, and granted 62%.
France – a country with a similar-sized population to the UK – made 132,695 decisions, and granted 31% of them.
Campaigners say women are kept at the site indefinitely and describe the practice as "cruel".
A court in Rome rules that the first 12 migrants sent to Albania should be brought back to Italy.
The Disasters Emergency Committee says the government will match the first £10m raised in donations.
A total of 13 people face potential removal from the UK due to overstaying their permitted leave.
The EU chief made the comments to member states, as Italy kicks off a contested migrant processing scheme.
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