French officers will be deployed on beaches in western France amid alarm about the arrival of a mega dinghy carrying 230 people over the summer – after numbers dropped to a six-year low
Surge teams of French officers will be deployed on beaches in western France to stop UK-bound “mega dinghies” being launched, it has been announced.
Authorities confirmed the targeted operation ahead of a crunch meeting between Andy Burnham and French President Emmanuel Macron in Downing Street on Thursday to discuss small boats. The arrival of 230 people in a single dinghy last month, days after a boat capsized with 173 people onboard, has raised alarm as greater numbers pile onto dangerous and overcrowded vessels.
No10 confirmed 45 French officers will be carrying out operations to disrupt boats setting off miles away from Calais, where enforcement by French police has stopped hundreds of deadly journeys. Mr Burnham said: “The progress we have seen this summer shows what can be achieved when the UK and France work together. But I am clear that we cannot be complacent.
“Smuggling gangs are constantly adapting their tactics, and the UK and France need to respond quickly and stay one step ahead of the criminals facilitating the dangerous crossings. The small boats crisis is a shared European challenge, and no country can solve it alone. Working with France and our international partners, we will restore order and control to our borders and prevent smugglers exploiting vulnerable migrants.”
Figures released at the weekend revealed the number of small boat arrivals over the summer was at its lowest level since 2020. And the 102 recorded between June and August was the smallest number since 2019.
But the rising number of people onboard is cause for alarm. When boats started arriving in 2018, they carried an average of seven people. In the year ending March 2026 this had risen to 63 – and on August 10 a boat with 230 people reached the UK.
New resources are being deployed to tackle changing tactics. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said nearly 50,000 crossings had been stopped as a result of joint UK-French efforts. More than 1,000 officers have been assigned to stopping small boats leaving French beaches.
No10 pointed to the expansion of a specialist French intelligence and judicial unit from 18 to 30 officers to tackle smuggling networks. And a new specialist unit of 75 officers is now active in Northern France.
Ms Mahmood stated: “We are boosting officer numbers to record highs to crack down on small boat launches and the gangs behind them.
“This work is bearing fruit. Over 48,000 crossing attempts have been prevented, small boat crossing numbers are down and removals of those here illegally are at record levels. But we are not complacent and we must be relentless. We will continue efforts on all fronts to tackle these illegal and dangerous crossings.”
Last month borders minister Anna Turley told The Mirror that seeing the mega dinghies’ arrival was “horrifying”. She said: “We’ve been working at pace across the world, right from the supply of where these boats are coming from to where they’re being assembled, to where they’re getting onto the French shores.
“We’re working with intelligence across the world to tackle that supply. We’re smashing the gangs, we’ve had great success in doing that. We’re working with the French to put more enforcement on the beaches.”
Earlier this summer the National Crime Agency (NCA) seized a shipment of small boat parts bound for Germany. The haul could have transported around 2,000 people across the Channel, the agency said at the time.