Labour 'losing control' of illegal Channel crossings as truth behind the rise of the mega-dinghy revealed

Despite the UK and France boosting police officer numbers on the French coast to stop the so-called "mega dinghies" from launching across the English Channel, criminal groups are now working together by loading more migrants on fewer, larger vessels.

French officers have claimed they are now intercepting two-thirds of small boats before they can reach the coast, meaning fewer crossing opportunities for smugglers.

With a crackdown on new vessels, people smugglers are running low on usable boats on which to make the crossings.

The result has been gangs pooling resources and loading more migrants onto fewer, larger vessels.

In addition, the crackdown has led to a surge in demand, with gangs exploiting this to raise their prices for crossings, quoting up to €2,000 (£1,700) per person, with the price holding at around €1,300 just a year ago.

Passengers also now have to pay in cash, to ensure commitment.

One hopeful migrant told the BBC: "The police stopped us from leaving and destroyed the boats", adding he wants to go to the UK so he can work and obtain legal papers.

The Prime Minister Andy Burnham met with French President Emmanuel Macron

REUTERS

Ahead of talks with his French counterpart, Mr Burnham said the two countries must "stay one step ahead" of the criminals’ evolving tactics as he vowed not to be "complacent" after a fall in the number of small boat arrivals.

While the combined total number of boat crossings over the summer months has dropped to its lowest since 2019, smugglers appear to have started loading more people onto fewer, larger vessels.

Downing Street said measures to counter the trend include deploying a surge team of 45 officers to French western beaches in the coming weeks, almost tripling resources in the area.

A specialist French intelligence and judicial team seeking to root out and prosecute smuggling networks has grown from 18 to 30 officers and a new 75-strong unit focused on curbing crossings has begun operations in northern France, taking the total number of officers to nearly 1,050.

Gravelines has probed to be a popular spot for crossing launches

PA

Reacting to the recent crossings, Rob Bates from the Centre for Migration Control told GB News: "The people smugglers will always be several steps ahead of the Home Office and it is a fool's errand to focus efforts solely on disrupting their operating model.

"So long as migrants continue to see Britain as a soft touch, with little risk of deportation, then the gangs will continue to enjoy high demand.

"Rather than hosting pointless summits with the anti-British Macron, the Prime Minister should be investing in detention facilities and developing a Rwanda-style plan for removals."

Migrants can be seen walking along the road in Gravelines, France

GETTY

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told GB News: "Since the election, 95 per cent of illegal immigrants crossing the Channel have been allowed to stay, so no wonder they keep coming. Almost 20,000 illegal immigrants so far this year is a disaster.

"We now have a mega dinghy crisis with over 150 illegal immigrants per dinghy crossing every time the sea is calm.

"I went to France recently and saw ten armed French Gendarmes Nationale, who UK taxpayers fund, standing around doing nothing while 100 illegal immigrants embarked on a mega dinghy in knee-deep water.

"I spoke to a Gendarme who said that they had orders not to intervene. The £660million we pay should be withheld until the French prevent all embarkations in shallow waters - especially of mega dinghies.

"All we have from Shabana Mahmood are press releases and gimmicks. They haven’t smashed the gangs and the “one in, one out” deal has seen only three per cent per cent of arrivals returned. It’s a joke."

Migrants are seen crossing into one of the busiest waterways in the world

GETTY

Reacting to Mr Philp's comment, a Government source told GB News: "This is laughable from Chris Philp. The last Government created this crisis and failed to solve it.

"We have cut summer small boat arrivals to their lowest level since 2020. We have stopped 48,000 attempted crossings, working closely with the French.

"We are doing the hard work the Tories never did, and it is working. We take no lessons from them."

Downing Street was asked by reporters if the surge team of an extra 45 officers would be enough to deal with the new, larger dinghies being used for the perilous Channel crossing.

A No10 spokeswoman told reporters: "That is just one part of our expansive efforts to bear down on criminal gangs, adapting to their latest tactics, and it almost triples French resources in that area."