After years of trekking through countless countries, weeks in filthy camp on the French coast. Migrants who fled wars, conflicts, and humanitarian disasters have ended up in Calais, northern France trying to get from there into their last destination “Britain”.
They illegally try to take the choppy waters of the Channel risking their lives just to arrive in the UK in order to start up a new life.
Just 33 km (21 miles) separate the French coast from the white cliffs of Dover, visible on a clear day, but the crossing is one of the world’s busiest – and most dangerous. Still, more and more people are attempting the risky passage. The number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small inflatable boats has spiraled over the summer of 2020.
In 2022, more than 45,000 people have already made the perilous crossing of the English Channel, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, where more than 400 commercial ships pass each day.
Those who have a bit more cash get an inflatable dinghy. For €3,000 per person, they will board a small rubber boat with a rickety engine. Those who don’t resort to paddleboards, kayaks, or a simple rubber ring.
On November 24, 2021, an inflatable boat carrying migrants sank, killing 27 people near Calais. However, the tragedy did not lead to any change in the security-based migration policies that many observers believe were the cause.
Five migrants, including a seven-year-old girl, died on April 23, 2024 trying to cross the Channel from France to Britain, local authorities said, just hours after Britain passed a controversial bill to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Death Route
Sudanese migrants Khaled (L), 17, and Alaa, 26, stand next to their tents at a makeshift camp in the city of Calais, northern France on November 7, 2023. In northern France, dozens of minors are living alone in unsanitary camps while waiting to reach Britain. These vulnerable teenagers are being protected by associations.
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Migrants return inland after being prevented from boarding smugglers’ boats by French National Police on the beach of Gravelines, northern France on June 12, 2023. At dawn on June 12, 2023 on the beach of Gravelines, at least 180 migrants and 15 smugglers braved police patrols along the beachfront and attempted to board boats bound for Britain, only to be intercepted by police a few meters from the water’s edge. No vessel successfully departed that morning.
Death Route
Migrants carry a smuggling boat on their shoulders as they prepare to embark on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on October 12, 2022, in an attempt to cross the English Channel.
Death Route
Migrants move a smuggling boat into the water as they prepare to embark on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on October 12, 2022, in an attempt to cross the English Channel.
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Migrants move a smuggling boat into the water as they embark on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on October 12, 2022, in an attempt to cross the English Channel. Since the beginning of the year, more than 33,500 people have already made the perilous crossing of the English Channel, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, where more than 400 commercial ships pass each day.
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A migrant carries a child with smugglers behind him as he runs to board a smuggler’s boat on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on October 12, 2022, in an attempt to cross the English Channel. Since the beginning of the year, more than 33,500 people have already made the perilous crossing of the English Channel, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, where more than 400 commercial ships pass each day.
Death Route
Migrants react as a French police officer stands by ready to puncture the smuggler’s boat with a knife to prevent migrants from embarking in an attempt to cross the English Channelon the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on April 26, 2024. Five migrants, including a seven-year-old girl, died on April 23, 2024, trying to cross the Channel from France to Britain, local authorities said, just hours after Britain passed a controversial bill to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Death Route
A Sudanese migrant react after leaving a smuggler’s boat which was punctured with a knife by French police officers to prevent migrants from embarking in an attempt to cross the English Channelon the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on April 26, 2024. Five migrants, including a seven-year-old girl, died on April 23, 2024, trying to cross the Channel from France to Britain, local authorities said, just hours after Britain passed a controversial bill to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Death Route
Migrants wave to a smuggler’s boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, on the beach of Gravelines, near Dunkirk, northern France on April 26, 2024. Five migrants, including a seven-year-old girl, died on April 23, 2024 trying to cross the Channel from France to Britain, local authorities said, just hours after Britain passed a controversial bill to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.
Death Route
This aerial picture taken on September 16, 2023, from a police aircraft belonging to the French Police Aux Frontieres (PAF) shows migrants onboard of a dinghy used for smuggling as they attempt to cross the English Channel to Britain from a beach at Le Touquet, northern France.
