Authorities have been warned to brace for a possible surge in small boat crossings from France to Britain’s South Coast after a large inflatable vessel successfully reached Portsmouth over the weekend.
Officials in France believe “far more” migrant boats could attempt the much longer sea journey from Normandy in the weeks ahead, raising fresh concerns over the Channel migrant crisis.
Migration specialists in Britain have called on the Home Office to prepare for a potential new phase in the crossings after a dinghy carrying 140 people arrived in Portsmouth on Sunday, where tense scenes unfolded as demonstrators clashed with police.
The inflatable is understood to have covered roughly 70 miles from the Normandy shoreline, marking the first time a migrant boat has completed such an extended route to the UK.
The crossing took place far away from the traditional route used by small boats between Calais and Dover, signalling what experts fear may become a significant shift in tactics.
A senior French interior ministry source told the Daily Mail: ‘The geographical focus of the people smugglers is definitely changing.
‘They are finding it much harder to get boats launched in the Pas-de-Calais and so are moving west, across to Normandy.
‘We expect far more of the mega-dinghies to appear here in the coming weeks and months.
An infrared image taken by a French lifeboat crew that shadowed but did not stop a dinghy carrying 120 migrants that was later taken to Portsmouth
Lifejackets dumped by migrants by the road at Eastney Beach, where the migrants arrived, are collected by locals
‘The success on Sunday proved the voyage can be done.’
The Home Office confirmed 625 migrants reached Britain on Sunday, the highest daily total since July 29.
A further as-yet-unconfirmed number, thought to be about 130, arrived in the early hours of Monday.
Occupants of the Portsmouth dinghy, including 20 women and eight ‘very young children’, refused rescue after their outboard motor broke down, according to French officials.
The 46ft mega-dinghy left an isolated beach near Jobourg, Normandy, in the ‘very early hours’ of Sunday morning, a senior search-and-rescue official said.
‘Jobourg is not patrolled by police, because nobody would expect a boat to leave from such an isolated, rocky spot,’ the source said.
‘Within an hour or so the boat was in serious difficulty, and passengers on board made Mayday calls on their mobile phones.’
Its outboard motor failed, leaving the dinghy drifting dangerously 14 miles off the French coast.
‘We asked them who wanted to be rescued, and the answer was no one,’ said the source.
‘Only a few migrants were wearing life jackets, so we handed out jackets to all of them. It seemed incomprehensible that they were risking their lives without life jackets.
The migrants were brought ashore by RNLI vessels
The landing sparked protests which saw demonstrators clash with riot police until they were dispersed in the early hours of Monday morning
‘A second outboard motor was made to work, so the boat could continue on its voyage to Britain.’
Five French rescue boats and two helicopters were involved in an operation that oversaw the dinghy’s 14-hour crossing.
A spokesman for the Maritime Prefecture for the English Channel and the North Sea said migrants were not transferred to rescue vessels due to concerns over the ‘structural fragility’ of their dinghy.
The crossing was later monitored by British authorities – including a Coastguard aircraft and RNLI lifeboats – and escorted into Eastney marina, three miles from Portsmouth’s main harbour.
Hundreds of demonstrators blocked the road to the marina, preventing migrants from departing by coach.
Border control experts said heightened tensions over the Channel crisis would make it ‘far more complicated’ for UK authorities.
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Former chief inspector of borders and immigration David Neal said: ‘It now seems unavoidable that trafficking gangs will launch more small boats from French beaches far away from the main security patrols around Calais.
‘If they have not done so already the Home Office should begin putting in place detailed plans on how to handle arrivals along the South Coast.
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‘This will need to include safer and more accessible ports where migrants can disembark without triggering the kind of public order incidents seen at Portsmouth on Sunday night.
‘There is a serious risk of disorder and the Home Office must pay close attention.
‘All the evidence suggests that dealing with these small boat crossings is going to get far more complicated, both on the water and on land.’
Former Border Force director general Tony Smith said: ‘Extra French patrols in Calais and Dunkirk may have reduced overall numbers – but displacement like this is inevitable.
‘And it’s hard to see how French police can prevent it, given the length of coastline they would have to cover to do so.’
He said that while France refuses to take back migrant boats the ‘only way’ to tackle the crisis would be to introduce ‘an effective detention and removals deterrent’ in Britain.
He said it would involve refusing admission to the UK to all undocumented migrants, by excluding all asylum, human rights and modern slavery claims.
The Conservatives condemned Labour’s handling of the weekend’s events, including a separate anti-migrant protest in Dover on Saturday.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘The last 24 hours has exposed the Government’s chaotic mishandling of this crisis, with mega-dinghies crossing the Channel bringing floods of illegal immigrants whenever the seas are calm – and the French do nothing to stop it.
‘The Government’s handling of this crossing has been totally inept.
‘Their scandalous incompetence is risking further disorder.’
Hampshire police and crime commissioner Donna Jones said it would be a ‘significant issue’ if small boat arrivals began spreading across the South Coast.
‘My big concern now is that Portsmouth does not become a destination of choice for the people traffickers who are trying to bring people across to Britain. This is a real concern,’ she said.
‘We have hundreds of miles of coastline across southern England and if Dover is no longer the destination of choice, and instead there is going to be a spread across southern England, this is a significant issue for the government.’
Zia Yusuf, Reform UK home affairs spokesman, blamed Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood for the weekend protests.
He accused them of ‘inciting disorder by refusing to operate a border of any kind’.
Policing minister Sarah Jones told MPs: ‘We remain alert to the potential for crossings on less frequently targeted stretches of water off our coastline.’
More than 209,000 migrants have reached Britain since the crisis began in 2018.
Since the start of this year the running total is 17,138, down 43 per cent on the same point last year.
The all-time daily record for small boat arrivals remains 1,305, set in September 2022.
British officials insisted there was no evidence that people smugglers had changed their tactics.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: ‘What’s clear is that through our work we are gripping this issue across the board.’
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