Dozens of migrants sprint across French beach & pile into packed dinghy despite Labour border crackdown hours earlier
A HUGE group of small-boat migrants bolted across a beach to cram on a dinghy yesterday in a bid to cross the Channel.
Men wearing orange lifejackets were seen running and wading into the sea and clambering on to an overcrowded dinghy at dawn in Gravelines, France.
Parents also carried their young children into the water after evading French police patrolling sand dunes on a beach buggy.
Some made gestures and yelled insults at French police on the shore.
A number of small boats overflowing with migrants set off on the dangerous 21-mile crossing despite the French coastguard warning of strong tides.
Border Force vessel Hurricane brought at least one group to the UK after intercepting them in the middle of the Dover Straits.
UK sister ships Defender and Ranger were also dispatched alongside dinghy collection boat Kaver, according to Marine Traffic.
Migrants were later seen arriving at the Port of Ramsgate, Kent, ahead of processing at the immigration centre in nearby Manston.
They were the first to arrive since 605 migrants were brought to shore in 10 boats during 2026’s busiest day of crossings on February 25.
It comes just a day after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced she will launch strict Danish-style immigration reforms that have cut asylum claims to a 40-year low.
Foreign students and workers from four countries are being banned from coming to the UK.
Mahmood is making the move following the abuse of visas by migrants who claimed asylum after they had arrived in the UK.
Immigrants entering the country on student and worker visas used the route as a backdoor to claim refugee status, the government has said.
Many have subsequently been housed in asylum hotels at taxpayers’ expense, The Telegraph reports.
Now, for the first time the Home Secretary is imposing an “emergency brake” on student applications from Afghanistan, Cameroon, Sudan and Myanmar.
Mahmood said migrants from these countries are “seeking to exploit our generosity”.
It follows a near six times increase in the number of students from those countries claiming asylum since 2021.
Visas for skilled workers from Afghanistan are also being suspended after widespread abuse of the system.
Last year the number of migrants claiming asylum outstripped the number of work visas issued.
Migrants swapping from work, study or visitor visas to claim asylum made up nearly four in 10 of the 100,000 asylum claims in the past year.
This was triple the number from just five years ago.
But Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said only leaving the European Convention on Human Rights will fix the problem by deporting “every illegal immigrant within a week of arrival”.
He told The Sun: “This weak Labour Government cannot control our borders.
“Under Labour, channel crossings are getting worse.
“Keir Starmer and Shabana Mahmood lack the strength to do what is needed.”
A total of 2,209 migrants have made the perilous crossing in 35 boats so far this year, according to official figures from the Home Office.
The Sun reported earlier in the week that the number of migrants crossing the Channel was up on this time last year.
Figures show 2,056 crossed in small boats in the first two months of 2025.
