French maritime authorities carried out 12 rescue operations along the coast of northern France on Christmas Day, rescuing 107 people in distress from small boats trying to cross to the UK.
On Christmas morning, 30 passengers were rescued from a boat near Dunkirk, while the others onboard wished to continue their journey and were taken into British custody once they reached UK waters, said the French Channel and North Sea maritime prefect’s office.
Another boat experiencing engine damage was spotted later in the day, also near Dunkirk. Its passengers called for help and all 51 people onboard were rescued. Later, 26 people were taken off another boat experiencing difficulty near Calais.
More than 450 people crossed the Channel in small boats on Christmas Day, according to the Home Office.
The figures, updated on Thursday, indicated that 451 people arrived on 11 boats. The last time vessels carrying migrants were known to have arrived was on 14 December, when 160 people arrived in three boats.
Weather conditions on Christmas Day meant that Channel waters were relatively calm with less wind, causing more people to attempt dangerous crossings. Many departures were observed on the northern French coast during what authorities called an “intense” day. Charities had warned of potential deaths over Christmas.
Departures were seen from Dieppe in Seine-Maritime to Leffrinckoucke near Dunkirk, as small boats and dinghies continued to push off along an increasingly long stretch of the northern French coast.
The maritime prefect’s office said in a statement that the Channel was “a particularly dangerous area, especially at the height of winter for precarious and overloaded boats”.
Charities in France had warned of a growing number of attempted departures in winter when the sea may appear calm but temperatures are dangerously low and small inflatable boats are overloaded. Charity workers continued to be present along France’s northern coast over the Christmas period to provide help to those often soaked, injured or in shock, and stranded after small boats got into difficulty near the shore.
At least 73 people have died trying to cross the Channel to Britain this year, according to the Pas-de-Calais authorities, making 2024 the deadliest year on record for the crossings. In October, a baby died after an overloaded boat started to sink off the French coast. In September, six children and a pregnant woman were among 12 people who died after a boat carrying dozens of people was “ripped open” in one of the worst Channel tragedies since the small boats crisis began.
Tens of thousands of people on small boats reached Britain in 2024, where the government has pledged to crack down on people-smuggling gangs. In November Keir Starmer called for greater international cooperation against the gangs, which he described as a “global security threat similar to terrorism”.
