French police stop four migrant boats heading to Britain, a day after British crews came to the aid of the packed ship after it sailed away from the French coastguard

The French national police this morning stopped the departure of four migrant boats wanting to cross to Britain.

“This morning between 7 and 8 a.m., in the Slack area near Wimereux, the National Police foiled the departure of four migrant boats seeking an illegal maritime crossing,” officials said in a statement on X.

They also added that two persons suspected of being smugglers were arrested.

It comes just a day after British crews rescued an overloaded inflatable boat with around 50 people on board that had sailed away from the French coastguard.

Two RNLI lifeboats were rushed to the English Channel from Dover and Walmer on Wednesday as fears arose that the ship could capsize after entering a shipping lane near Calais.

The small boat packed with migrants was launched from Sangette beach in northern France yesterday morning, with passengers seemingly making the most of the conditions in the mill.

Footage from the rescue mission showed a French coast guard boat trying to assist the black inflatable boat as it drifted aimlessly into the dangerous shipping lanes in the Strait of Dover.

Although the rubber ship seemed to struggle under the weight of the many people on board, the small engine had managed to provide the boat with enough power to steer it away from the coast of Calais, miles out into the open sea.

Horror footage showed many of the desperate migrants clinging to the flimsy boat not wearing life jackets, and some also clinging to babies and young children.

It is believed the boat drifted into British waters, with British rescue boats and coastguard vessels taking to the water in an attempt to rescue the asylum seekers.

As the boat drifted further and further away from the French rescuers, towards Britain, the RNLI and coastguard teams intervened.

The chaotic sequence of events unfolded after migrants overpowered police officers on the beach of Sangatte, in northern France, early on Wednesday morning.

They managed to launch the ship as dozens of people jumped aboard, a witness said, before the boat drifted along the shoreline.

A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘The unacceptable number of people continuing to cross the Channel shows exactly why we need to get flights to Rwanda up and running as quickly as possible.

‘We continue to work closely with the French police, who are facing increasing violence and disruption on their beaches, as they work tirelessly to prevent these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary journeys.

“We remain committed to building on the successes that saw arrivals fall by more than a third last year, including tougher legislation and agreements with international partners, to save lives and stop the boats.”

Another group of migrants was also intercepted by a Border Police vessel yesterday and escorted to Dover, Kent.

The majority of the male group were seen wearing orange life jackets and climbing off the catamaran shortly after 8am.

Today it was revealed that one of the migrants was attacked by two men on a beach in France before boarding the inflatable craft.

He was found with stab wounds after making the journey across the English Channel and was taken to hospital in an ambulance for treatment of his injuries – which were described as non-threatening.

He told Kent police that he was ‘attacked on a beach near Calais by two men who were then staying in France while he crossed over to Britain’.

The man was on one of eight rubber boats that reached the British coast, carrying more than 400 migrants on one of the busiest crossing days so far this year.

No arrests have yet been made in connection with the stabbing. Detectives say they are passing details of what happened to French authorities for further investigation.

About 60 other migrants on his boat were also checked.

A Kent Police spokesperson said: ‘At 12.52pm on Wednesday, March 20, Kent Police received a report of a man with injuries consistent with stab wounds, following the arrival of a small boat at Dover’s western docks.

“The man was taken to a local hospital for treatment and has since been discharged. He has reported being attacked on a beach near Calais by two men who were then staying in France while he crossed to Britain.

In the early hours of Tuesday, French police also stormed a beach near Calais to prevent 60 asylum seekers from entering the UK via the Channel.

France’s Police Nationale tweeted: “On the night of Monday to Tuesday, Pas-de-Calais #police officers on the beach of Hemmes de Marck prevented the departure of about sixty people on board several makeshift boats towards Great Britain.”

According to official figures, 61 migrants were intercepted in one dinghy on the same day and taken to Dover on a Border Force ship.

Official UK government figures show that 3,468 migrants have crossed the Channel in 73 dinghies so far this year – an average of 48 people per boat.

This month’s total is 1,213 migrants in 25 boats.

Neither dataset contains yesterday’s arrivals, which have yet to be confirmed.

Last year, 29,437 migrants made the crossing – a significant drop from 2022 when 45,755 people reached Britain.

At least 75 migrants have died in the Channel since the crisis began five years ago.

Earlier this month, a seven-year-old girl drowned in a French inland waterway on her way to the Channel.

It happened just three days after three more migrants died when their boat ran into difficulties.