Two migrants bound for the UK have died while attempting to secure places on overcrowded, large inflatable boats.
French prosecutors have launched criminal investigations into the two deaths on beaches along the English Channel.
A confrontation broke out at Camiers, south of Boulogne-sur-Mer, yesterday morning after a migrant boat encountered difficulties offshore.
About 30 people had managed to board when a man was found in the water after suffering a suspected heart attack.
Medics attempted to revive the unidentified man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene. Several miles to the north, the body of a person described as being “in their 30s, of African appearance” was found on the beach at Neufchâtel-Hardelot.
The worsening Channel crisis saw 781 migrants reach the UK on Wednesday, the highest daily figure recorded this year. That brought the total since the 2024 general election to 83,279—more than the British Army’s 83,000 soldiers, according to Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp.
“Labour has let an entire army-sized population cross the Channel illegally,” the Conservative frontbencher said. “Labour has lost control of our borders and seems utterly incapable of getting it back.”
Pressure on the Government has intensified after two dinghies reached British shores this week without being intercepted by Border Force.
Cabinet minister Lucy Powell acknowledged that the Government “can’t stop everything all of the time” while facing questions about a chaotic week.
Wednesday’s figure surpassed the previous yearly high of 752, recorded on July 29. It also meant that 1,085 migrants had arrived in Britain during the first three days of this week. Further arrivals were reported yesterday, although official numbers have not yet been released.
Migrants try to board a smuggler’s boat off the beach of Equihen-Plage, northern France, on September 23, 2026
One of the giant ribs being deflated in Dover today
Cécile Gressier, the Boulogne prosecutor, confirmed that investigations into both deaths were under way. People smugglers or other migrants could potentially face manslaughter charges.
The latest fatalities bring to at least 21 the number of people who have died in the Channel this year while attempting to reach Britain, including women and children.
The deaths came a day after disturbing footage appeared to show a man leaving a child behind as he tried to board a dinghy in France.
The chaotic video, filmed from a beach, shows the man holding a toddler as he tries to climb onto the small boat.
Standing in chest-deep water amid strong waves, he then releases the child, who remains floating face-up in the sea for several seconds.
Members of the French lifeboat organisation SNSM swim towards the child and pull them from the water.
The youngster, who appears to be around three or four years old, is carried back to shore on a rescue board while the man continues trying to board the dinghy.
It remains unclear whether the man and child are related. The child was wearing a black hooded anorak and an orange life jacket.
The video clip was filmed off Berck beach, about 30 miles south of Boulogne, on Monday afternoon.
Many migrants have drowned, while others have been crushed to death in overcrowded boats.
The worst tragedy of this kind came in November 2021, when 27 migrants died after a dinghy sank while heading to the UK – the highest recorded number of deaths from a single incident.
Multiple attempts at crossings have taken place from the coast of northern France over the last few days, as the smugglers take advantage of calm seas and good weather.
According to figures from the UK Home Office, 781 migrants arrived in Britain on Wednesday – the highest single-day total recorded so far this year.
In total, 18,565 migrants have reached England via this route since January, a figure down by more than 40 per cent compared to the same period in 2025.
The surge in crossings also indicates that people-trafficking gangs are still getting hold of dinghies and outboard motors with ease, despite a crackdown on supply routes.
The figures will be embarrassing for Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, who claimed on September 2: ‘We are boosting officer numbers to record highs to crack down on small-boat launches and the gangs behind them. This work is bearing fruit.’
This week’s two ‘uncontrolled landings’ included a dinghy with up to 30 migrants which reached a Kent beach on Tuesday before police arrived.
Officials confirmed 21 people were detained and taken to a Home Office facility, where they will be processed ahead of lodging asylum claims.
Ms Mahmood has ordered an urgent review of how the boats made it across the Channel unchallenged.
Education Secretary Ms Powell told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: ‘[You] can’t stop everything all of the time. Of course it’s a concern.
‘That’s why the Home Secretary has demanded and ordered this urgent review, because this is not what we want to see. This is not acceptable.’
A Border Force union – the ISU – warned that migrant boats were ‘definitely’ arriving undetected along the full length of the UK’s south coast.
The union’s Lucy Moreton said: ‘It’s absolutely, definitely happening. If no one sees them, no one sees them.
‘But we know that we’ve had abandoned vessels, we’ve had reports of uncontrolled landings all the way down to Falmouth.’
The total number of small-boat migrants to enter Britain since the general election is 83,279 – passing the Army’s 83,000 soldiers (Pictured: A group of migrants are brought in to the Border Security Command compound in Dover, Kent this week)
Ms Moreton accused the Home Office of taking a position of: ‘If we don’t look for it, we don’t know it’s happening. We don’t know it’s happening, we don’t have to deal with it.’
A former senior Home Office civil servant said the whole of the south coast should be monitored for migrant crossings, not just the narrowest section of the Channel near Dover.
Ex-Border Force director general Tony Smith said: ‘We’ve got technology – radar and drones and surveillance – but clearly, it didn’t work on this particular occasion.’
Asked why migrants would choose to arrive on a beach rather than be rescued and processed, he said they may have wanted to ‘evade capture’ and avoid biometric checks which could flag a criminal record or that they had previously arrived illegally.
A Government spokesman said: ‘Our progress this year in tackling small boats is indisputable – with crossings down by 42 per cent and the lowest recorded over the summer months since 2020.
‘But this week’s events show that while the peaks we are seeing are far below those of previous years, we need to push further and harder in order to eradicate this vile trade.’