Early one morning this week, a dinghy motored along a vast beach in northern France, stopping every few hundred meters to pick up migrants bound for Britain. Four French police gave chase but failed to reach the group before they reached the water’s edge.
With more than 70 people onboard, the boat began its journey across the sea, joining a record-breaking wave of migrants attempting the English Channel crossing this year. The situation has stirred political tensions in Britain, where Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s right-wing opponents are using the surge to question his pledge to “smash” the trafficking gangs.
FILE PHOTO: A group of migrants on an inflatable dinghy leave the coast of northern France in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain, from the beach of Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais, France, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo
New Enforcement Measures Under Discussion
France and Britain hope to announce new measures at their summit next week. The proposals include allowing French police to intercept the so-called “taxi boats” up to 300 meters from shore, a shift from the current policy which permits intervention only when lives are in danger.
The plan responds to a new tactic used by smugglers: transporting migrants to the sea’s edge in phases and loading dinghies directly from beaches. But several interviewed by Reuters, including police, activists, and migrants themselves, cast doubt on the plan’s feasibility.
A woman and her child walks with a group of migrants on the beach to reach an inflatable dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain, at the beach of Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais, France, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Julien Soir, a police union representative in Lille speaking to Reuters, said that there is a lack of equipment, seaborne training, and legal protections as key obstacles. Police also fear the personal liability they could face if migrants are injured or die during interceptions.
Politics Fuel Policy Pressure
The migrant influx has influenced UK politics, with Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party gaining momentum over Labor in some polls. Farage has called for deploying the Navy to intercept and return migrant boats to France, a policy lawyers say would only be legal with French cooperation.
A group of migrants walk through the water to reach an inflatable dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain, from the beach of Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais, France, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Nearly 20,000 asylum seekers have reached Britain via small boats so far in 2025, a 50% increase over the same period last year. Authorities in both countries attribute the rise in part to unusually favorable weather conditions.
Peter Walsh of Oxford University’s Migration Observatory said maritime interception might reduce some crossings but will not solve deeper causes like armed conflict and the appeal of English-speaking Britain. London is also seeking to revive a returns agreement with France that was lost after Brexit.
A group of migrants walk through the water to reach an inflatable dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain, from the beach of Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais, France, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Migrants Remain Undeterred
At a makeshift camp near Dunkirk, several migrants told Reuters they were unaware of the new proposal—and that it would not stop them.
A group of migrants walk on pier to reach an inflatable dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain, at the beach of Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais, France, July 2, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes
Israrullah Lodin, 26, left Afghanistan in 2021 after his family’s cooperation with the U.S. military drew threats from the Taliban. After three failed crossing attempts, Lodin still hopes to work in a UK fulfilment warehouse. “We are not afraid to die,” he said. “I have to reach my destination.”
