Beach patrols, drones in the sky, thermal imaging cameras, night vision binoculars… The military arsenal deployed on the French coasts is not slowing down departures in the Channel. Between 1 and 4 September 2024, just over 21,400 exiles reached the English coast aboard “small boats”, according to the Home Office count . A similar figure, although slightly up compared to the same period in 2023 – when there were 21,000 registered.
Since the militarization of the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel in 2018, and since the installation of barbed wire all around the port area in the following years, the smugglers have changed their approach: no more crossings by truck. The crossings are now made, in their vast majority, by these small inflatable boats, precarious and unsuitable for crossing the Channel and on which more than 60 people are crammed, including women and children.
Despite the danger of the English Channel, where dozens of cargo ships and commercial ferries cross – likely to overturn the tiny boats on their way – the departures have never stopped. More than 30,000 crossings were counted for the whole of 2023. And more than 45,000 in 2022, a record year.
The tragedies do not seem to convince the exiles to give up the crossing either. However, 2024 is the deadliest year in the Channel since the appearance of the “small boat” phenomenon: 37 people have died since January 1st. The last shipwreck dates back to September 3rd when a lifeboat carrying 60 people broke up at sea. Twelve people died.
The boat had left from the Boulogne-sur-Mer region, further south of Calais, which is considered less subject to police pressure. Some departures also take place from the Bay of Somme, 130 km from the British coast (compared to 30 km from Calais).
“Go to sea when the weather is unstable, when the waves are high”
“To avoid confrontations [with the police] as much as possible, migrants are now taking risks,” says Fabien Touchard, coordinator of Utopia 56. “For example, they go to sea when the weather is unstable, when the waves are very high. They think that the beaches are less supervised in rainy weather.”
