Migrant boats launched further away from Calais

Some migrants are being rescued from small boats that have been launched into the English Channel much further south of Calais than before.

The Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and North Sea said there had been an extension of the departure areas to the south, with some as far as Dieppe.

It also said in its annual report that the average number of people per boat has risen from 45 in 2023 to 54 last year.

Audrey Baconnais-Rosez, the local state representative in Dieppe, told BBC South East they had seen "an increase in people trying to depart from Normandy, but the number of migrants is still much lower than what we have in the north of France."

The majority of the small-boat crossing attempts are made from the Calais and Dunkirk region, but some rescues took place in the Dieppe area in December and January - about 180km (112 miles) further south.

Launch locations began to include estuaries that police have countered with barrages and dams.

Some gangs have used "taxi boats", where migrants get a craft into the water and then pick up others as they wait offshore in the surf.

Nine years ago the authorities stepped up security at Dieppe to prevent small boat crossings and stop migrants stowing away on lorries bound for Newhaven in East Sussex.

But in August 2024, a van driver was found guilty of smuggling seven migrants into the UK in the hidden compartment of a vehicle on a cross-Channel ferry.

Ms Baconnais-Rosez said: "We've saved nearly 90 people at sea and brought them back to the shore. In January we saved 46 people.

"We found 50 people inside the Dieppe harbour next to the ferry," she said.

"All the French authorities have decided to increase patrols in order to prevent those departures. We have also put more cameras and more security around the Dieppe harbour.

"We want to safeguard life at sea and have increased the surveillance."

At least 78 people died attempting to reach the UK in small boats last year, the deadliest year on record, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).

Almost 37,000 people crossed the English Channel in small boats in 2024, figures from the Home Office show.

Since 2018, when figures were first recorded, more than 150,000 people have arrived in the UK after making the journey from France.

The government recently announced measures to tackle people smuggling, including a new criminal offence of endangering the lives of others at sea, which will carry a jail term of up to five years.

Those convicted of acts in preparation for smuggling - such as buying boat parts - will face up to 14 years in prison.

The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill sets out the government's plan to treat people smugglers like terrorists, with suspects facing travel bans, social-media blackouts and phone restrictions.

Separately, the government has issued guidance saying anyone entering the UK by an irregular route - such as a small boat crossing - will normally be refused citizenship.

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