French police have acknowledged that they have been instructed not to physically intervene to prevent migrants from launching small boats across the English Channel, despite a government agreement aimed at curbing the crossings. This admission came during a recent visit to northern French beaches by Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, who observed migrants entering the water and boarding dinghies under the watch of local gendarmes.
On one beach near Hardelot, south of Boulogne, gendarmes told Mr. Philp that their orders were to warn migrants of the dangers but not physically stop them from departing. “Our order is to let them go... We just have to say to them, ‘Don’t do that. It’s dangerous,’” an officer explained. Mr. Philp criticized this stance as inadequate and described the scenes he witnessed as evidence that the current approach to managing Channel crossings is failing.
Recent unofficial figures suggest that nearly 570 migrants reached Dover on a single day last week, with additional boats still crossing the Channel. This surge follows relatively lower numbers earlier in the year, which saw a 45 percent decrease in arrivals compared with the same period in 2025. However, days with high crossings, such as mid-June’s 710 arrivals, and the latest spike raise concerns that the decline might be reversing.
The crossings often involve overcrowded and unsafe vessels. Recently, a dinghy carrying a record 165 migrants—the largest known single crossing—was intercepted. Chan Mathok Atak, 19, a Sudanese teenager suspected of piloting the boat, appeared in court charged with endangering lives. The average number of migrants aboard each dinghy has grown from fewer than seven in 2018 to nearly 66 currently, reflecting traffickers’ shifting tactics amid increased enforcement.
The United Kingdom and France have a £650 million, three-year agreement aimed at reducing crossings through enhanced patrols and new tactics, including intercepting “taxi boats” used by traffickers to ferry migrants from shore to larger vessels. The deal was signed in April by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who has argued it will significantly reduce crossings. The Home Office has highlighted record levels of removals and a 12 percent drop in asylum claims as signs of progress.
Prime Minister Andy Burnham defended the government’s handling of the situation, emphasizing that while daily numbers fluctuate, there has been a notable year-on-year decrease in crossings so far. However, critics, including Mr. Philp, argue that the government’s strategy has not adapted effectively to the evolving tactics of traffickers and that French authorities’ reluctance to physically prevent departures undermines efforts to control the flow.
Since the Channel crisis began in 2018, more than 205,000 migrants have reached the UK via small boats. Labour’s decision to scrap the previous government’s Rwanda asylum removal agreement marked a shift toward targeting criminal smuggling networks. Despite this, smuggling operations continue to adapt, producing larger vessels and coordinating multiple simultaneous launches along the French coast, from locations such as Gravelines, Dunkirk, Calais, and Dieppe.
As the situation develops, government officials from both sides of the Channel face increasing pressure to refine their approach amid ongoing humanitarian and security challenges.