GB News was interrupted on Wednesday (July 22) for a breaking announcement that a 'mega dinghy' had launched from a beach in France, highlighting the ongoing illegal migration crisis. The boat departed from Équihen-Plage, south of Boulogne.
Chaos at sea as migrants scramble aboard
GB News Home and Security Editor Mark White described 'absolute chaos' as the already packed boat headed towards the beach to pick up 'several dozen more' migrants. 'Most of them couldn't even get onto the vessel. They were left scrambling about, trying to get on that dinghy, many of them falling back into the water. French rescue crafts were zipping about and plucking people out of the water,' he said.
Mother with young children prevented by police
White noted a particular scene that 'took his breath away,' involving a mother attempting to get her two young children onto the boat but being prevented by police. 'One of them could barely have been two years old, just learning to walk. She's trying to get past police officers to get down into the water. Police officers pushed her back onto the beach,' he explained. He questioned the recklessness of taking very young children into the water to scramble aboard a boat offshore.
White claimed that the majority of migrants who die attempting the crossing are women and children because 'men push them off.'
Crisis persists under new Prime Minister
White pointed out that despite the country having a new Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, the illegal migration crisis remains. 'What it shows, just a few days into Andy Burnham's time in office, is this crisis has not gone away. Yes, numbers are lower than they were at this time last year, but that can be made up by a run of good days, by switching tactics from the people smugglers,' he said.
He added: 'It's certainly not something that the government can be complacent about. The pictures today show you the determination of people smugglers to cram even more people dangerously onto these boats.'
