‘I stopped Sweden’s migrant wave – UK can end small boat madness’

Britain could turn the tide of illegal immigration from small boats crossing the Channel if it adopts the same tactics used by Sweden, the country’s migration minister has claimed. Politicians in the UK have argued Britain can only solve the out-of-control migrant crisis by leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which left-wing human rights lawyers repeatedly use as a tool to fight for asylum cases.

A staggering 30,000 people have arrived by small boat in the year ending July 31, 2026, with record-breaking numbers packed onto each flimsy vessel in recent weeks. Home Office figures show that from around 178,845 asylum claims between 2018 and 2025, a huge 44.5% (79,589) were granted refugee status in the UK.

In shocking scenes last week, over 70,000 people entered the Spanish enclave from Morocco between July 30 and 31, most of them swimming around the heavily guarded border fences. The massive influx has sparked concern that some of those making the illegal crossing could head to Britain.

Despite years of promises to tackle the problem, no British Government has been able to bring the numbers down significantly or dissuade migrants from making the perilous journey to these shores in the first place.

But in Sweden, politicians believe they may have found the answer to stop the boats, and the country’s migration minister, Johan Forssell, believes the UK could do it too.

Mr Forsell, part of Sweden’s Right-wing coalition, which took power in 2022, told The Telegraph that cutting benefits, deporting criminals and making asylum seekers live in reception centres had slashed migration numbers to record lows.

Sweden is expected to receive just 4,200 asylum seekers this year, the lowest number since 1984. And overall, since Mr Forsell’s party came to power, the number of asylum claims has dropped by 75%, and deportations have increased by 60%.

He told The Telegraph: “If you come to Sweden, you need to learn Swedish, you need to find a job, you cannot commit crimes. That is not an extreme view, is it?”

“There are so many Leftists nowadays saying the migrant crisis is over. The situation in the UK has taught everyone that migration is still a very explosive topic, and the crisis is not over.

“And that is the same lesson that Europe learned last weekend with Spain […] we need to secure our borders.”

Just as in Britain, the illegal migration issue has become political dynamite and in Sweden it saw a change of politics from Left to Right after the country reported more than 162,000 asylum applications in a single year during the 2015 European migrant crisis.

In 2004, the Swedish Government reported overall net emigration for the first time.

Mr Forsell added that leaving the ECHR wasn’t the only way to cut immigration and boost deportations, but he said the existing treaty did need reform as it was a system “working in favour of criminals rather than in favour of their victims”.

He said: “We are fully committed to doing things by the book. But we have seen some cases, especially regarding criminals, where these conventions have protected them, the criminals, rather than the victims of crime, and that will not stand.

“It is possible to reduce asylum-related migration, and to do that in a short period of time and in full accordance with international law and human rights.

“There is no silver bullet, but what we have done is that we have been looking at every piece of legislation, trying to make it strict and firm.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said his party’s plan to intercept and return migrant boats crossing the English Channel would comply with international law.

Reform UK has proposed using the Royal Navy to transport migrants to France or Belgium under a plan called “Operation Fortress”. The party described the scheme as a humanitarian response.

Setting out his party’s proposal at a press conference, the Reform UK leader said: “Operation Fortress will be a combined military operation.”