French police stood by and watched as migrants boarded dinghies in Dunkirk early today, as the total number of small boat crossings to England since 2018 is believed to have surpassed 200,000. The Daily Mail was present at 4:30 am in central Dunkirk, in front of the Radisson Blu hotel, when approximately 40 migrants ran across the promenade and down to the waterline.
Police Inaction Despite British-Funded Equipment
Around a dozen French police officers were also present, accompanied by two beach buggies funded by British taxpayers. However, they did not intervene as the multi-racial group headed toward the sea. As is often the case, the officers merely watched from a safe distance while the migrants, a mix of Africans, Middle Easterners, and men from across Asia, stood in the waves up to their shins, waiting for a 'taxi-boat' launched from a quieter spot along the coast to collect them.
Taxi-Boat Arrives and Loads Passengers
Twenty minutes later, the taxi-boat dinghy arrived from the west, carrying around 30 people already aboard, straddling the sides, almost all wearing bright orange life jackets. As it pulled close to the shore, the migrants waiting in the sea boarded the vessel. Throughout this process, although the police illuminated the scene with a searchlight, they did nothing to intervene.
While there have been isolated incidents where officers have slashed occupied boats with knives, and repeated talk of tougher measures, today's observation showed police maintaining a distance of 50 yards from the dinghy while fresh passengers boarded in shin-deep water. It is likely they feared causing potential drownings due to medium-sized waves.
Failed Crossing Due to Mechanical Issues
The dinghy eventually loaded and prepared to cross the Channel. However, a shoddy outboard motor, too weak to propel a 30-foot dinghy carrying 60 passengers, and poor seamanship, prevented the crossing. After half an hour of floundering, with some migrants getting out and pushing, they gave up, having failed to pull away from the wave line. They disembarked, leaving the empty dinghy behind.
The police stood by as the group of more than 60, including two young women and one disabled man with a crutch, walked to a bus stop and took free transport, likely back to the 'new jungle' migrant camp five miles away at Grande Synthe. It is probable they will attempt another crossing within 24 hours.
Subsequent Police Action and Another Attempt
Later, a rogue group of around a dozen Africans, none wearing life jackets, raced across the sand to the abandoned dinghy, thinking they had found a free ride to England. However, they discovered the police had finally acted, slashing and disabling the boat after its passengers had left. Meanwhile, the officers drove half a mile down the beach, still in front of Dunkirk's hotels and promenade, to where another group of around 20 migrants was openly waiting in the sea for a taxi-boat. On this occasion, the officers managed to encourage them to leave the beach.
Within hours, at least one other dinghy, possibly from further east near the new launchpad in Belgium, appeared to have successfully crossed the Channel, escorted to British waters by a French patrol vessel. The Daily Mail watched that dinghy from the beach at Gravelines as it reached the horizon.
Total Crossings Exceed 200,000
Total migrant Channel crossings by small boat since 2018, when the dinghy crisis began, had reached 199,920 by Monday. A single boat can carry up to 80 people. Prime Minister Keir Starmer's promises to 'smash the gangs' behind people-smuggling remain unfulfilled.
