Migrant mega-dinghy reaches UK after 'longest Channel crossing'

 A mega-dinghy carrying 140 migrants has reached the UK from Normandy after what is believed to be longest-ever Channel crossing by people smugglers.

On Sunday, the French coastguard said it had detected the vessel, which was shadowed by a number of rescue boats in case it got into difficulties. 

It said authorities would not intervene at sea because of the risk to life with so many migrants on board.

The launch site – a beach east of Cherbourg in the Baie de la Seine – was around 230 miles from Calais.

It reflects a change in tactics by people-smugglers, who have started loading more migrants on to fewer and larger vessels, partly because of the success of law enforcement in disrupting boat and equipment supply chains.

As well as turning to larger boats, smuggling gangs have started launching taxi boats further west to avoid increased numbers of police on the beaches and evade interception on the water by a new seaborne police unit.

French authorities estimated that up to 140 people were on board the mega-dinghy, 90 short of the record 230 who crossed on a similar boat last month.

At least 30 people were thrown off the boat into the sea because it was so overcrowded, according to French officials.

Several French lifeboats and the Abeille Liberté, a border patrol ship, were alerted to the launch in the early hours. They then escorted the mega-dinghy as it headed towards the Isle of Wight.

Lifeboats from Yarmouth and Bembridge were deployed to rescue the migrants when they reached UK waters. A coastguard search and rescue plane also tracked its progress.

Joe Robertson, the Conservative MP for Isle of Wight East, said: “A migrant crossing so far from the French coast is deeply troubling.

“Just when the Government is telling us that the number of small boat crossings is going down, it looks like people-smugglers may be opening up new routes. The Home Office needs to tell us what is going on.”

The crossing by the oversized boat comes days after France announced that it was setting up a special police unit to combat people-smugglers’ use of mega-dinghies.

Before Andy Burnham’s first bilateral meeting with Emmanuel Macron, the French president, last Thursday, the two governments announced that a “surge” team of 45 officers would be deployed to beaches west of Calais.

The officers, supported by drones and aerial intelligence, will target launch beaches for mega-dinghies to prevent them from leaving. They will also disrupt boat and equipment supply lines before they reach the coast.

The new unit is in addition to the 1,050 French officers committed to stopping the boats. On Wednesday, it was announced that the force was at full strength, with the addition of a 75-officer unit focused on preventing crossings in northern France.

Last week, Mr Burnham said the UK and France must “stay one step ahead” of the criminals’ evolving tactics. He promised not to be “complacent” after a 45 per cent fall in the number of small boat arrivals.

Some 16,391 migrants have crossed from France to the UK so far this year, down 43 per cent compared with the same time last year and an 18 per cent drop from the same point in 2024.

Sunday’s mega-dinghy launch came as people smugglers took advantage of calmer weather after nine days when not a single migrant boat crossed the Channel.