Small boats are being launched from Belgium as smugglers change their tactics.
Police say ‘taxi boats’ are leaving towns as far as 60 miles from Britain before picking up migrants along the Belgian and French coastlines.
Though numbers remain comparatively small, there have been 17 such departures this year, compared with no more than two per year since 2021.
Last month, volunteers pulled 19 people from a sinking dinghy during a night-time operation in De Haan, according to Belgium police spokesperson An Berger.
More attempts are expected with better weather coming.
The numbers from Belgium are still dwarfed by the France-Britain route, which continues to be the focus for law enforcement.
More than 5,300 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year.
Last Thursday, two men and two women died near a beach in northern France, leading to police arresting a teenager who was accused of piloting the boat.
French police watch on as dozens of migrants depart from Dunkirk on Monday
A migrant swimming in the sea after failing to board a boat on the beach at Dunkirk on the French coast on Monday
The 16-year-old Afghan national was charged with endangering others during a sea crossing to the UK without a valid entry clearance – the first alleged offence of its kind since it became law on January 5.
At Margate Magistrates’ Court yesterday, the boy appeared wearing a black coat and spoke to confirm his name, date of birth and plead not guilty.
Speaking through a Dari interpreter, he said: ‘I plead not guilty, I was forced to do so.’
‘We submit (the boy) has piloted a boat across the Channel. There were 46 other people on that boat and that by piloting the boat he put them in danger,’ said Julie Farbrace, prosecuting.
District Judge Archie Mackay later added: ‘The harm that was risked was potential fatalities.’
The boy was remanded in custody and will appear at Canterbury Crown Court on February 9.
The new offence of endangering others during a sea crossing is part of a range of measures introduced to curb Channel crossings which came into force under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act which became law in December.
According to the Home Office, the offence is designed to stop more people being crammed into unsafe boats and would apply to those involved in physical aggression and intimidation, as well as anyone who resists rescue.
Britain is currently in the process of negotiating a new deal with France to subsidise patrols along its northern coast.
Two weeks ago, officials agreed a new two-month deal to pay France £16.2million more to police the Channel while the two countries thrash out a long-term agreement.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed off deal, which extends a previous one, to subsidise French beach patrols.
EU border agency Frontex claimed the shift to Belgium was an attempt to avoid police patrols in France.
However, the French police response has been heavily criticised, with gendarmerie regularly seen watching on as migrants board boats.
Claire Hédon, the highly influential Defender of Rights, said in January that heavy-handed tactics such as slashing boats with knives or restraining migrants with tear gas or rubber bullets were ‘disproportionate’ and risked harming the thousands of young men flooding into Britain.
Under the terms of a deal signed in July, Britain can send a small boat migrant back to France in return for accepting one who has not previously tried to arrive illegally.
But so far, just 497 people have been returned to France and 482 have come to the UK. During this time, tens of thousands of people have made the crossing.
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘We are aware of dangerous and illegal small boat launches from Belgium.
‘Through continued shared intelligence and close partnerships with Belgian authorities, numerous others have been successfully prevented to prevent illegal arrivals to the UK.’