English Channel small boat migrants undeterred by new crackdown

Migrants gathering in France aiming to cross the English Channel in small boats have said they remain determined to get to the UK, despite new deterrents planned by the British and French governments.

London and Paris have been in negotiations to return some illegal migrants arriving in Dover, with the the British government accepting legal migrants seeking family reunion.

The French authorities are also considering allowing the police or coastguard to intervene in shallow waters to try to stop so-called taxi boats which pick migrants up from the beaches.

But many people living temporarily in a makeshift camp in Dunkirk along the coast from Calais have told the BBC they were undeterred.

One man from Africa – who only wanted to be known as John – told the BBC people were desperate to get away from the squalor.

He said: ‘”In Dunkirk, it’s really terrible – with a lot of trouble. I am leaving. I want to leave Dunkirk.”

The UK and France are set to announce new initiatives to reduce crossing at a summit between the two countries in July.

More than 18,500 people have reached the UK on small boats in 2025 – a record figure for the first six months of the year.

Hundreds more migrants are thought to have made the crossing on Sunday.

The chief executive of the Refugee Council, Enver Solomon, said: “Until the details of any one-in one-out deal with France are released it’s difficult to know if it would be workable, humane, or effective.”

He said the government was right to work with France to look at greater cooperation.

“The current enforcement-heavy strategy has clearly led to smuggling gangs taking greater risks, resulting in rising numbers of deaths in the Channel,” he added.

The Home Office said it was strengthening international partnerships to boost the ability to identify, disrupt and dismantle the criminal gangs organising the crossings.