MigrationWatchdog

By nationality

Who arrives by illegal entry routes, who claims asylum and what happens to the claims — the published nationality tables side by side, calendar year 2025 and Year ending March 2026.

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This page places separate official tables near each other; it never merges them. Arrivals, asylum claims and prison counts are different populations measured on different dates and different counting bases — a nationality appearing in more than one table is not evidence that the same people appear in each. Numbers describe system flows by recorded nationality; they say nothing about any individual.

Illegal-route arrivals and their asylum claims

The ten largest nationalities detected arriving by illegal entry routes (calendar year 2025), beside the asylum table for the same nationality (Year ending March 2026). The two sources use different periods — the columns are published, not derived.

Illegal-route arrivals, asylum claims, grant rate and awaiting decision, by nationality
NationalityIllegal-route arrivals (2025)Asylum claimsGrant rateAwaiting decision
Eritrea7,6028,21287%1,746
Afghanistan4,7556,19734%3,249
Iran4,4897,33158%3,298
Sudan4,4325,89893%2,143
Somalia3,7834,67636%2,190
Ethiopia1,6951,94655%693
Iraq1,6362,23627%1,820
Syria1,5281,6979%4,520
Vietnam1,4331,98721%1,392
Yemen1,3371,54095%373
calendar year 2025 · source

Grant rates are at initial decision; appeals change final outcomes. The full asylum-by-nationality table, including nationalities that rarely arrive by illegal routes, is on the asylum page.

How each nationality's arrivals moved, 2018–2025

Detected illegal-route arrivals per complete calendar year, one panel per nationality — the twelve largest in 2025, exactly as published.

Eritrea 7,602 in 2025

7.6k0201820252018 — 02019 — 02020 — 5112021 — 2,8752022 — 2,0202023 — 2,6662024 — 3,4802025 — 7,602
Eritrea: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Afghanistan 4,755 in 2025

9.1k0201820252018 — 32019 — 692020 — 4942021 — 1,4372022 — 9,0882023 — 5,5112024 — 6,0652025 — 4,755
Afghanistan: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Iran 4,489 in 2025

8.3k0201820252018 — 2382019 — 1,2132020 — 2,3732021 — 8,3192022 — 5,8412023 — 3,5822024 — 4,2142025 — 4,489
Iran: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Sudan 4,432 in 2025

4.4k0201820252018 — 02019 — 02020 — 9692021 — 1,0642022 — 1,7622023 — 1,6582024 — 2,7482025 — 4,432
Sudan: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Somalia 3,783 in 2025

3.8k0201820252018 — 02019 — 02020 — 142021 — 3182022 — 862023 — 2482024 — 6972025 — 3,783
Somalia: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Ethiopia 1,695 in 2025

1.7k0201820252018 — 02019 — 52020 — 1082021 — 5442022 — 5302023 — 2492024 — 5082025 — 1,695
Ethiopia: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Iraq 1,636 in 2025

6.1k0201820252018 — 332019 — 4712020 — 1,6482021 — 6,1172022 — 4,5742023 — 2,5362024 — 2,1422025 — 1,636
Iraq: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Syria 1,528 in 2025

4.7k0201820252018 — 12019 — 142020 — 7762021 — 2,4512022 — 3,0062023 — 2,2752024 — 4,6932025 — 1,528
Syria: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Vietnam 1,433 in 2025

3.7k0201820252018 — 42019 — 32020 — 1182021 — 1,4032022 — 5052023 — 1,3062024 — 3,6572025 — 1,433
Vietnam: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Yemen 1,337 in 2025

1.3k0201820252018 — 02019 — 02020 — 2522021 — 1352022 — 1602023 — 912024 — 1,3002025 — 1,337
Yemen: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Stateless 1,238 in 2025

1.2k0201820252018 — 02019 — 22020 — 3892021 — 4982022 — 1982023 — 512024 — 1382025 — 1,238
Stateless: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

Not currently recorded 1,192 in 2025

1.2k0201820252018 — 02019 — 02020 — 02021 — 5822022 — 2002023 — 1,0362024 — 7392025 — 1,192
Not currently recorded: detected illegal-route arrivals per calendar year. Illegal entry routes to the UK summary tables, year ending March 2026 (Home Office).

A different register: foreign nationals in prison

This table is deliberately separate from the arrivals and asylum tables above, and the site does not join them: prison nationality is recorded citizenship, not immigration status — "foreign national" includes people living here lawfully for decades — and the prison snapshot has no counting basis in common with arrivals or claims. It is shown because a watchdog should publish it, not because it connects to the tables above.
Largest foreign-national groups in prison, England and Wales
Nationality (as published)CountryIn prison
AlbanianAlbania943
IrishIreland684
PolishPoland621
RomanianRomania621
IndianIndia375
JamaicanJamaica357
AfghanAfghanistan322
IranianIran310
PakistaniPakistan308
IraqiIraq306
PortuguesePortugal268
LithuanianLithuania256
as at 30 June 2026 · source

Full prison and deportation context, including the offence-group breakdown, is on the crime page.

Data as of

Cite this page

By nationality: arrivals, claims and outcomes. Migration Watchdog, data as of 2026-08-13.
https://migrationwatchdog.com/nationalities
Underlying figures: UK official statistics, re-published under OGL v3.0 — every figure links to its source on the page.

Sources for this page