Channel smuggling gangs resort to 'mega-dinghies' as crackdown limits small boat supply
Smuggling gangs in northern France are increasingly using 'mega-dinghies' to transport larger groups of migrants across the English Channel. This shift follows a crackdown on the supply of smaller boats, leading to more dangerous conditions for those attempting the crossing.
Why it matters
The change in tactics poses new challenges for border security and increases the risk of humanitarian disasters in the Channel.
Image caption, The BBC watched groups of migrants boarding an inflatable dinghy on the Gravelines beach in northern France
A drop in small boats illegally reaching the UK is forcing people smuggling gangs to adopt new tactics, a BBC investigation has found.
And there are claims of more "mega-dinghies" being prepared, of the type seen arriving on UK shores in recent weeks.
The image of a 15-metre long small boat carrying a record 230 migrants towards the UK drew condemnation from both newspapers and politicians.
Ministers were accused of "losing control" of illegal Channel crossings, and the French police again found themselves criticised for not intervening.
But evocative as the picture was, it also represented a new strategy by the increasingly frustrated people smugglers we encountered on France's northern shores - who attacked our crew with stones, and injured our cameraman.
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