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.

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!’

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.

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In July, French police launched an investigation after the body of a migrant was found on a beach in Calais.

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.’

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.’

Violence broke out in France on Saturday as left-wing protesters were filmed trampling on Israeli and US flags and throwing firebombs at police.

Clashes between demonstrators and officers erupted in Paris after the protest march reached its final destination.

Some protesters used hammers to loosen paving stones and hurl them at police. At least one incendiary device was also thrown toward security forces, who responded with tear gas.

Footage shared online appeared to show French riot police charging at protesters after a firebomb was thrown at them on a Paris street. In the same scenes, one demonstrator could be seen walking with a traffic cone over his head.

Elsewhere in France, left-wing demonstrators were filmed standing on the roof of what appeared to be a bus shelter. They stamped on US and Israeli flags before setting fire to a Star of David.

Thousands of young people took to the streets across France, Germany, Italy and Spain as police prepared for possible violence during the third weekend of protests.

Around 70,000 police officers and gendarmes were deployed throughout France, while demonstrations in Paris were diverted to the outskirts of the capital.

Youth-led protests were also reported in Germany and Italy.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez warned there was a “very high risk” of disorder, particularly after nightfall on Halloween.

Police had arrested thousands of people after riots and looting marred protests that were otherwise largely peaceful on October 17 and October 24.

At Porte de Bagnolet on Paris’s eastern edge, several thousand people began gathering on Saturday afternoon behind a line of students who were due to lead the march hand in hand.

Security volunteers from the CGT, one of France’s biggest labor unions, monitored the front of the gathering as police assembled in nearby side streets.

The protesters’ grievances varied widely.

Different groups carried their own banners, including high school students opposing the university admissions system, climate activists and demonstrators angered by the rising cost of living.

Several Halloween costumes caught attention in the crowd, including a zombie version of Michael Jackson from Thriller, a pirate and Spider-Man.

Before the march began, protesters waited calmly, chanting and singing through megaphones.

Corentin Cabreux, a 21-year-old student, said he lives in a state-run student residence where ‘there are damp stains all along the bottom of my walls, whole sections peeling off, cockroaches everywhere, rats’.

He said he hoped Saturday’s protest would be festive in honor of Halloween, to counter the image of violence that has attached itself to France’s protests.

Police set curfew and other measures to avoid a repeat of violence

The rallies started last month as a movement of high school students protesting neglected buildings, teacher shortages and a university admissions system seen as unfair to disadvantaged students. 

Labour unions and others angry at President Emmanuel Macron joined in with a variety of demands.

While the vast majority of protesters have been peaceful, groups of troublemakers routinely target police with fireworks and projectiles. 

Some protests have degenerated into rioting and looting – including unrest on October 17 that appeared to take the government by surprise. 

Police have responded with tear gas, dispersion grenades, water cannons and other tactics that have resulted in severe injuries.

Mr Macron said that Saturday’s marches would stay out of city centers to protect shops. 

Police also barred entry to Place de la Republique and Les Halles from 11pm to 6am on Saturday and Sunday.

Unaccompanied minors face a separate 9pm curfew around the Champs-Elysees. 

A Paris court on Wednesday suspended an earlier curfew on minors as a serious and illegal infringement of freedom of movement.

Protests are also taking place in Germany, Italy and Spain.

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In Germany, a youth initiative called ‘Gen Z regelt’ – roughly ‘Gen Z’s got this’ – urged protests in some 30 cities ‘for education, health, climate protection and an affordable life’, and against any return of military conscription. 

Organisers said more than 180,000 people had signed up online.

Berlin police expected about 10,000 people at the Brandenburg Gate. Some shops on the Kurfuerstendamm boulevard boarded up their windows, although authorities said they were unaware of specific threats of violence. 

Protests were expected to begin in the early afternoon.

In Barcelona, Spain, Catalan police planned to activate their highest-level alert after an anonymous TikTok network called Blocus urged new gatherings. 

Rioting there last Saturday led to about 130 arrests, mostly of minors.

Italian police were on alert after clashes in Milan, Turin and Bologna, and calls to protest circulated on TikTok in Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Portugal.

The French have banned Halloween masks during anti-government protests across the country today as they predict yet another horror weekend of intense violence.

At least 4,000 people have been arrested during disturbances over the past month, with hundreds wounded.

On Saturday, French interior minister Laurent Nunez said more rioting, looting and arson was inevitable on a ‘high risk’ day when 70,000 police and gendarmes would be on the street.

He said ‘face-covering masks will not be allowed,’ despite the protests coinciding with Halloween, because there was ‘a very high risk of public disorder’.

Mr Nunez said police were aware of multiple social media calls for Halloween gatherings urging protesters ‘to spark a revolution’.

Many called for people to dress up and gather for ‘a night of darkness’.

Police meanwhile banned demonstrations in the centre of many cities including Paris, where a march will take place out on the eastern section of the ring road on Saturday.

Alain Di Crescenzo, the president of France’s chamber of commerce, said businesses were ‘extremely worried’, as many shops boarded up their windows.

‘Shopkeepers can’t wait for Saturday to be over,’ said Mr Di Crescenzo.

‘The information we have is that Halloween is not helping matters, because we’re going to have people wearing masks.’

The French authorities have acknowledged intelligence failures that enabled earlier clashes, and have attempted to reassert control by restricting demonstrations and imposing curfews.

The unrest followed weeks of demonstrations by high school students campaigning for the equivalent of around £9billion to be put into the education system.

But it has now mushroomed into a mass movement encompassing multiple groups, from trade unions to Black Bloc anarchists.

Left-wing politicians have been accused of stirring up trouble, while they say that paramilitary police units have provoked the crowds.

Jean-Luc Mélenchon, the presidential candidate for the France Unbowed party, said too many tear gas canisters had been fired at peaceful demonstrators.

He claimed: ‘It seems that confrontation is the very goal of this public-order strategy. It’s pathetic.’

Among those on the streets on Saturday were the infamous Yellow Vests – or Gilets Jaunes – who brought chaos to France at the start of President Emmanuel Macron’s time in office.

Opinion polls suggest Marine Le Pen, the far-Right National Rally candidate, could go head-to-head against Mr Mélenchon in the second round of the next presidential election in May.

She is currently appealing against a conviction for embezzling taxpayers’ cash from the European Parliament, so could become the first convicted criminal to enter the Élysée Palace.

Mr Macron will be forced to stand down, having served the maximum two terms allowed for a serving head of state in France.

Dozens of Palestine Action supporters were arrested on Saturday after gathering outside the US embassy in London.

Defend Our Juries, the group behind the protest, had predicted that around 400 people would attend and hold placards stating, “I oppose genocide, I support Palestine Action”. Images from the demonstration, however, appeared to show just over 100 participants.

Under the UK Terrorism Act, publicly expressing support for Palestine Action is an offence following the group’s proscription in June 2025.

As demonstrators assembled outside the embassy and raised their signs, Metropolitan Police officers moved in swiftly and began making arrests.

Just before 4pm, the force said 48 people had been arrested, adding that officers were continuing to detain protesters.

Defend Our Juries said the protest was held ahead of a Supreme Court hearing examining the government’s ban on Palestine Action.

Explaining its decision to demonstrate outside the US embassy, the group said the United States had “not shied away” from involvement in the conflict involving Palestine.

The US government announced sanctions against Palestine Action in August, formally designating the organisation as a terrorist group.

Scotland Yard said protests linked to Palestine Action “take significant police resources away from the neighbourhoods and communities where they are most needed”.

David Polden, 86, attended with a satirical placard reading, “I support genocide, I oppose Palestine Action (satire)”.

The retired Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament activist said he had joined the protest because he was “against genocide” and “against the British government supporting genocide”.

He said: “In spite of my sign, which says, ‘I don’t support Palestine Action,’ I do support Palestine Action because they are attempting to stop genocide.”

Polden claimed officers had tried to arrest him earlier in the day but released him after realising the full wording of his placard.

He said he had previously been arrested for holding signs supporting the proscribed organisation and had since been charged with one terrorism offence.

“I keep getting notices postponing my [court] hearing until after the Supreme Court decides whether supporting Palestine Action was illegal or not,” he said.

Retired lecturer Christopher Williams, 65, said: “This will be my first arrest. I have everything prepared. My family know.”

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‘I take this stuff seriously. It won’t be a consequence to me. If we don’t do anything, I think we are all culpable then.’

The Met spent £1.3million on six ‘Palestine-Israel public order events’ in June and July, according to its response to a freedom of information request.

Ahead of today’s protest, the force said that anyone holding a sign expressing support for Palestine Action will face arrest – but so could anyone seen to be ‘playing a key role in organising the event’ such as by ‘giving instructions to others and/or providing logistical support’.

Met Commander Adam Slonecki, who is leading the policing operation, said anyone providing logistical support to those holding placards can also expect to be arrested.

He said: ‘All those intending on coming to this event know that supporting a proscribed organisation is unlawful – they are essentially meeting to purposefully commit a crime.

‘The public would rightly expect us to be proactive and not just stand by and wait for offences to be committed.

‘I want to be clear – it is not just those who hold up placards who should expect to be arrested.

‘Anyone officers consider to be playing a key role in organising the event, giving instructions to others and/or providing logistical support will very likely be committing an offence and face enforcement action.

‘This is not about preventing people from expressing their views, but about acting robustly in cases where doing so involves criminality.

‘These events also take significant police resources away from the neighbourhoods and communities where they are most needed. I would urge anyone planning on attending to reconsider.’

A spokesman for Defend Our Juries said: ‘How can the Met possibly justify arresting people who are not defying the ban themselves, who are simply providing logistical support to the peaceful protesters, many of whom are elderly or disabled and in need of support?’

They added: ‘This significant escalation from the Met just brings more sharply into focus the unprecedented attacks on freedom of expression unleashed by the ban on Palestine Action at the centre of the Supreme Court hearing next week, as well as the police’s double standards when it comes to enforcing this ban, which becomes more unsustainable by the day.

‘It is also reckless and irresponsible, putting the safety of elderly and disabled people at risk.’

In June, five Court of Appeal judges said the ban on Palestine Action as a terror group was a ‘justified and proportionate’ interference on freedom of expression rights.

This overturned the judgment of three judges at the High Court who ruled in February that the then-home secretary Yvette Cooper’s decision to ban Palestine Action was unlawful, after a legal challenge from the group’s co-founder Huda Ammori.