Protesters chanting “Stop the boats” marched through the coastal town of Dover.
Dozens of protesters gathered in Dover, a British port town, to protest for stricter migration policies and to voice their discontent with the government’s asylum procedures.
The ‘Great British National Protest’ took place on Saturday, attracting a significant number of people to the Kent coast. Participants waved Union Jack and England flags as they congregated on the beach and embankment before marching through the town’s center.
Demonstrators carried signs that read “Asylum frauds out” and “Not racist, not far-right, not being listened to!” while chanting “Stop the boats” as they walked along the seafront. One sign stated: “There is no far right, there is no far left, there are only those who fight against the system.”
A video circulating online features a woman rapping, criticizing UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, whom many blame for enabling uncontrolled migration through his policies.
Social media posts, including video clips and livestreams, showed the protest proceeding without incident. No counter-protests were reported in the vicinity.
A Kent Police spokesperson stated that the police were taking steps “to ensure the protest remains peaceful, lawful and that disruption to the local area is kept to a minimum. Officers will be monitoring the situation and sufficient resources will be in place to deliver a proportionate police response.”
Dover has been a key entry point for unauthorized migration into the UK, with many people crossing the English Channel in small, unsafe vessels. The Migration Observatory reports that approximately 37,000 individuals were detected crossing the English Channel in small boats in 2024, a 25% increase from the previous year, and the number of arrivals has continued to rise in the first half of 2025.
Over the last six years, nationals from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania, Syria, and Eritrea have accounted for 70% of those crossing to the UK in small boats.
Anti-immigrant feelings are reportedly increasing in the UK, with many associating migration with rising crime. Government figures indicate that there were about 50,500 offenses involving a sharp object in England and Wales, excluding Greater Manchester, in the year ending March 2024.
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