The UK-France deal to tackle the small boat crisis is unlikely to stop Channel crossing attempts, a charity has warned.
Earlier this week, Sir Keir Starmer announced a one-in-one-out deal with French president Emmanuel Macron in a bid to return migrants who cross the Channel.
The Prime Minister has hailed the “groundbreaking” policy, with a pilot scheme to launch in the coming weeks.
In another treaty announced last week, Germany, often used as a storage hubs for boats and transport equipment, will shut a loophole so police can seize small boats used by smuggling gangs.
But Amelie Moyart, a communications coordinator for Utopia 56, said it was doubtful the deal would have any deterrent effect on those hoping to cross.
Her remarks come after riot police in France have clashed with migrants several times since Starmer made his announcement.
She told The i Paper: “For now it hasn’t. I think we need to wait to see what they do in reality to know if it’s gonna really have an impact.
“But for now, just the announcement, the speech, didn’t do anything. People are still trying to cross.
A group of migrants run from the beach into the water to reach an inflatable dinghy in an attempt to cross the English Channel (Photo: Reuters/Gonzalo Fuentes)“The French and Britain keep trying to stop the smugglers, and there are a lot of investigations going on, and sometimes the French government are happy to say they have stopped a big gang.
“But there are already so many people trying again so they get boats from different places.
“There’s so many different gangs. Even if you get one person, there’s 10 people behind.”
A spokesperson for Utopia 56 also revealed the group received a distress call from one small boat about 4am on Saturday morning, with at least two vessels seen leaving the French coast overnight.
Aid workers found two children aged about 12 on a beach near Gravelines after they were separated from their parents who managed to scramble into one boat.
On Friday night, riot police clashed with migrants at the seaside town, north east of Calais, with missiles hurled at officers who fired volleys of tear gas in return.
Gendarmerie and Police Nationale officers armed with shields and helmets faced off against those hoping to make the perilous journey, with tensions between migrants and officers building in recent months, the Utopia 56 spokesperson warned.
French riot police clashed with migrants during disturbances on Friday (Photo: Gareth Fuller/PA Wire)Under the French scheme, British officials will detain some people who cross the Channel and send them back to France, in return for accepting an asylum seeker in France who can has family connections in the UK.
The latest Home Office figures showed 419 migrants in six boats crossed from France to the UK on Friday.
Footage taken on Saturday morning shows police moving on a group of migrants, including children and toddlers, after one failed crossing attempt on the Petit Fort Philippe beach.
The group, many of them Kurds, appeared to be waiting for a so-called taxi boat to return to the beach and collect them, Ms Moyart said.
Smuggling gangs adopt new strategy
Smuggling gangs have changed tactics by launching these boats from hidden locations away from departure beaches, instead of inflating them in coastal dunes.
In recent weeks, French gendarmerie have been seen using knives to slash boats already in the water in a bid to stop people leaving.
Tensions have been building between the police and migrants in the area for months, said Ms Moyart, with a Utopia56 team witnessing the recent disturbances in the early hours of Friday.
“There were 40-50 French police. They used a lot of gas. We saw a small group of people, 10 or 15, the police were directly against,” she said.
“They used rocks or something like that. And it is happening more and more, the tensions between police and people who tried to go.”
The clashes reportedly took place after gendarmes failed to block two dinghies, leaving the shores on Thursday morning.
With regards to who was taking part in the disturbances, it was difficult to distinguish between people smuggling gangs and migrants hoping to reach the UK.
“People working for the gangs are also people who want to cross usually, and they have to work sometimes for a few months to get a place on the boat,” she added.
“Even people who just want to cross, sometimes they get angry with the police. That’s what creates a lot of tension when there’s too many people and so many police in one place.
“When you speak with French people in Gravelines, they also report that the nights are really noisy and difficult currently with everything going on.
“The police use a lot of gas. A woman was saying that she can’t sleep with the window open because it gets inside the house.”
The Home Office was contacted for comment.
Small boat crossings reach record numbers
More than 22,500 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel so far in 2025, a record for this point in the year.
Crossings often increase when the weather is good, because calm, and warm waters improve the chance of making it across the body of water.
This been disproportionately warm, with two heatwaves already sweeping the UK and a “unprecedented season of warmth” this spring, according to the Met Office.
Border security insiders said this meant there were more days when crossings could take place, and thus higher numbers of people could make the journey.
Channel crossings by small boat surge over 5 years
Channel crossings by small boats have significantly increased over the past five years despite joint efforts by Britain and France to stop people making the perilous journey.
2020 – 8,466 made the crossing
2021 – 28,526 crossed the Channel by by small boat
2022 – 45,744 made the journey
2023 – 29,437 crossed the Channel
2024 – 36,816 people crossed the Channel
2025 – 22,504 have made the journey so far
Source: Home Office data
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