Migrants attempting to cross the English Channel to the UK in small boats have been involved in violent clashes as they reportedly fought for space aboard the vessels.
Dramatic footage filmed in France captures scenes of chaos, with people throwing punches as they struggle to squeeze onto an inflatable dinghy.
The overcrowded boat can then be seen tipping into the water and coming close to capsizing while the confrontation continues.
Dozens of people appear to make desperate attempts to board, falling on top of passengers already inside. Some are pushed back with forceful blows, including strikes to the head.
The scenes emerged as hundreds of migrants were seen trying to board dinghies with their families for the journey to Britain. The number of Channel arrivals tripled in a single day as people smugglers appeared to move away from the shoreline.
Official figures showed that 671 people arrived in the UK on nine boats yesterday, compared with 263 people on three boats on Thursday.
The figures mean that 934 migrants crossed the English Channel in 12 boats over two days, following a three-week period during which no arrivals were recorded.
Images from the French coast show people scrambling aboard severely overcrowded inflatable boats in an effort to make the 21-mile journey to Dover.
Migrants attempting to cross the English Channel to the UK in small boats were filmed fighting for space aboard one vessel
An inflatable dinghy in France dips into the water and nearly capsizes as migrants clash on board
Dozens of people appear to fall onto passengers already inside the boat before being forced back
The boats are packed tightly, with passengers sitting shoulder to shoulder. Many wear bright orange life jackets, while others try to protect themselves from the cold in winter coats and hats.
Others wade through knee-deep seawater and battle the waves as they attempt to secure a place on the dinghies during the chaotic crossings.
Some passengers were also seen carrying children. Figures released to the Daily Mail by Kent County Council this week show that thousands of children have crossed the Channel since January, including 2,182 who made the journey alone—more than 200 each month.
At the French port, a photographer pursued an alleged people smuggler across the beach and tried unsuccessfully to persuade gendarmes—French military police—to arrest him.
Police vehicles with flashing lights were at the scene as dozens of migrants ran across the sand, apparently attempting to avoid a possible arrest.
The photographer wrote on X: ‘I just identified and chased a people smuggler from the boat onto the beach with the gendarmes, and they had opportunity to arrest him and they did not. I got so close to him while running. I could’ve tackled.’
The footage and photographs underline the lengths some people are willing to go to secure a place on the dangerous Channel crossing.
On Friday, a migrant carrying a knife reportedly boarded a Britain-bound boat after threatening another man and allegedly telling him: ‘I will kill you!’
Migrants were filmed desperately trying to board small boats with their families for the crossing to the UK
Images show large groups scrambling into the over-packed inflatable boats, trying to make it across the border from France to Dover
Migrants arrived at Dover on Friday, whole some arrived back on a Dungeness Lifeboat
Footage shows dozens of migrants climbing into a dinghy in Hardelot-Plage, northern France, with an argument breaking out between a man already on board and another trying to get on.
The confrontation escalates when the migrant in the water gets out a knife and lunges towards the man on the boat in an attempt to threaten him.
‘I will kill you,’ he is heard saying as he waves the weapon in the air, while one onlooker attempts to fend him off.
A British man at the scene is heard alerting the coastguard that the man is armed.
Before the knifeman could reach his target, he appears to drop the weapon into the water.
Just moments later, the armed man appears to board the boat but it is unclear whether he reached Britain.
The incident follows a series of violent incidents involving migrants attempting to cross the Channel.
In July, French police launched an investigation after the body of a migrant was found on a beach in Calais.
The imagery and video show migrants are prepared to go to extreme lengths to get a spot on the perilous journey
A photographer at the port in France chased a people smuggler across the beach, trying and failing to get the gendarmes to arrest him
New figures reveal that nearly 1,000 (934) illegal migrants in 12 boats crossed the English Channel in just two days after a three-week pause in arrivals
New figures have shown another 671 arrived on nine boats yesterday, up from 263 on three boats on Thursday
People thought to be migrants wade in the water as they attempt to board a small boat off the coast of Hardelot, France
Since January, thousands of child migrants have made the 21-mile crossing, with no fewer than 2,182 making the trip entirely alone
Investigators believe those responsible may have fled to Britain on a small boat.
And in August, an Afghan national was found dead on a dinghy in the Channel.
It emerged yesterday that migrants were headed to Britain on a ‘custom-made’ small boat in the colours of the Kurdish flag, in an apparent reference to the gangs who dominate Channel trafficking.
More than 20 men were filmed on the dinghy off a Belgian beach early on Thursday, watched by police.
Rather than the usual black PVC plastic, the boat was made in distinctive colours matching the red, white and green ‘fesses’, or horizontal stripes, and yellow sunburst emblem of the Kurdish flag, adopted in 1946.
The departure took place at 3am local time from a beach near the border with France.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Far from smashing the gangs as Labour promised, the Kurdish people smugglers are now openly laughing in the Government’s faces with an illegal immigrant boat decked in their national colours.
‘The coming days are calm seas for a fortnight or so, and hundreds of illegal immigrants are set to flock across the Channel.
‘The Government’s returns deal with France has collapsed and the authorities the other side of the Channel are standing by as illegal immigrants and people smugglers run amok and launch ever larger boats.
‘Shabana Mahmood has failed.’
A migrant attempting to cross the Channel appeared to threaten a man with a knife
A migrant dinghy, pictured off the Belgian coast early on Thursday morning, was in the distinctive colours of the Kurdish flag
More than 20 men were filmed on the dinghy off a Belgian beach early on Thursday, watched by police
He added: ‘The only solution is the Conservative borders plan – leave the European Convention on Human Rights so we can deport all illegal immigrants upon arrival. Then the crossings will stop.’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage tweeted: ‘The Belgian authorities, like the French, are just standing and watching.
‘This boat is even custom-made to match the Kurdish flag. The gangs are laughing at us.’
It is not yet known whether the dinghy successfully crossed the Channel on Thursday.
Since Labour came to power 85,649 small boat migrants have reached the UK, including 8,466 since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister in July.
A Home Office spokesman previously said: ‘We have made progress tackling the small boats. Crossings are down significantly, and we have just recorded the lowest number of summer arrivals since 2020.
‘Joint efforts with international partners have prevented over 50,000 crossing attempts and seized 1,100 boats and engines since the election.
‘But we must go further. That’s why we are boosting the number of officers on the ground in France and removing the pull factors drawing people here through illegal and dangerous routes.’