FRANCE-UK: On the beach as migrants try to cross the Channel

Summary

Warm weather and calm seas have meant the number of #migrants tempting the crossing from northern #France to the #UK has risen sharply in recent days.Our reporters were on the beach, early in the morning, in Gravelines near Calais as a group of migrants tried, and failed, to board a small boat. They stood on the shoreline and watched as the already overcrowded boat disappeared into the distance.Migrants who spoke to FRANCE 24 said they were from Somalia, Sudan, Eritrea, Nigeria and Uganda and intended to try the crossing again. The day we filmed, on June 18, 2026, the UK Home Office recorded that 392 migrants had reached the UK in small boats. So far this year, 10,244 have managed to do so.