Iran migrants are already at Channel coast attempting to get to Britain to flee struggle – and warn ‘there are various extra on their approach’

Migrants fleeing war in Iran have arrived in France to cross the Channel to the UK – and say many more will be following them. 

Aspiring asylum seekers have been gathering at camps in Dunkirk following air strikes led by the US and Israel on their homeland – and now aim to board small boats to Britain. 

Dozens of people are said to have arrived in vans at the Loon-Plage migrant camp after travelling from Iran via Turkey. 

The European Union‘s asylum agency has warned that conflict in Iran could produce an influx of migrants of an ‘unprecedented magnitude’.

The new wave of Iranian refugees follows not only the latest military onslaughts but also the 12-day war launched by Israel last June and the Iranian regime’s violent crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators this year.

The busiest day for small boat arrivals this year was on February 26, with 605 reported as coming over by the Home Office.

Another 275 made the journey on Wednesday this week, taking this year’s tally of migrant crossings to 2,688 people in 42 boats.

A total of 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK in 2025 after crossing the English Channel, the second highest annual figure on record.

People from Iran made up 11 per cent of last year’s crossings. 

Oxford University’s migration observatory has said that Iranians were the most common nationality among asylum seekers to the UK over the past decade.

Ans the EU Agency for Asylum said of Iran in its latest annual report, published on Tuesday: ‘With a population of approximately 90million, even partial destabilisation could generate refugee movements of an unprecedented magnitude.

‘Displacement of just 10 per cent of Iran’s population would rival the largest refugee flows of recent decades.’

The report was drawn up before the US and Israel began strikes on Iran last Saturday. 

Among those gathering at the camp in Dunkirk also dubbed ‘The Jungle’ was 21-year-old Jiletni, from Kermanshah in the Kurdish region of Iran.

That city, home to multiple missile bases, has been hit by a series of explosions in recent days.

It was previously a focal point for anti-regime demonstrations eariier this year.

Jiletni told the Times of fleeing in the middle of the night with friend Fatah, saying: ‘We left because of the constant surveillance.

‘This is why we are now seeking safety in the UK.’ 

Another Iranian at the camp, 24-year-old Muhammad, arrived last week from Sardasht in the country’s West Azerbaijan province.

He said: ‘I cannot go home. It has been bombed by Israelis. Also, the regime wants to kill me for my activism. The Iranian people are targets all sides.’

Another was quoted as saying: ‘There are many more on their way.’ 

The warnings come as Shabana Mahmood faces a backlash from Labour MPs over her latest immigration crackdown – with one even likening it to Donald Trump‘s ICE.

The Home Secretary insisted that her ‘firm but fair’ plans, which include removing the duty to provide asylum support and making refugee status temporary as well as paying for failed asylum-seeking families to leave, were consistent with her party’s values.

And she warned that rejecting them would pave the way for the Greens’ ‘fairytale’ of open borders or Reform’s ‘nightmare’ of pulling up the drawbridge.

‘If we don’t resolve these problems, others with none of our values will be given the chance to do so instead,’ she said in a speech at the IPPR think-tank on Thursday.

And when asked if the backbench rebellion would lead to yet another U-turn, she insisted: ‘I’m very clear that we have a majority of support in the parliamentary Labour party in order to get these reforms passed.’

In an interview she also claimed to have ‘absolute confidence’ that Sir Keir Starmer will stick with her plans, telling Sky News: ‘I’ve discussed these reforms with the Prime Minister at length, not just today or last week, but for months now.’

However opposition to her proposals continues to grow with more than 100 Labour MPs signing a letter claiming they undermine the Government’s commitment to social cohesion. 

Tony Vaughan, a Labour MP and barrister at Sir Keir Starmer’s old chambers who organised the letter, said: ‘We can change our immigration system for the better without forgetting who we are as a Labour party.

‘You don’t win back public confidence in the asylum system by threatening to forcibly remove refugees who have lived here lawfully for 15 or 20 years. That just breeds insecurity and fractured communities.’ 

Sarah Owen, chairman of the Women and Equalities Committee, wrote on social media: ‘Of course we need an immigration system that is both credible and fair but what has been touted by the Home Office satisfies neither criteria. The idea of deporting children mimics Trump’s ICE detention of children.

‘Moving the goalposts for people who have upped their lives to work in and for our country is unjustifiable. This, and the language it’s being delivered with, will only have negative implications on our economy, integration and social cohesion.

‘This, at a time when communities are already stretched to breaking point, is the wrong direction politically and morally – as a party and as a country.’

Leaked messages from a WhatsApp group for Labour MPs, obtained by The Times, reveal that several refused a request to share an article written by Ms Mahmood for The Guardian.

Stella Creasy wrote: ‘I look forward to reading the inevitable NAO report and the inevitable Windrush-style scandal that none of us stood on a manifesto to implement.’

Abtisam Mohamed said: ‘This is anything but compassionate and can we stop selling it as such. Not Labour values at all.

‘You should have engaged with us before coming up with such damaging policies.’