Violence erupted among migrants attempting to reach the UK in small boats, with people seen fighting for room aboard an overcrowded dinghy.
Dramatic footage filmed in France captures the chaos as passengers exchange punches while trying to squeeze onto the inflatable boat.
The dinghy then tilts dangerously into the water and appears close to capsizing as the confrontation continues.
Several people attempt to throw themselves aboard, falling onto passengers already inside. Those on the boat push them back, with some striking at the newcomers.
The scenes come as hundreds of migrants, including families, have been seen packing into dinghies bound for Britain. The latest figures show arrivals more than doubled in a single day as people smugglers appeared to operate openly.
A further 671 people arrived on nine boats yesterday, compared with 263 people on three boats on Thursday, according to new figures.
In total, 934 migrants crossed the English Channel in 12 boats over two days, following a three-week pause in reported arrivals.
Images show migrants scrambling into overloaded inflatables as they attempt to travel from the French coast to Dover.
Migrants attempting to reach the UK in small boats were filmed fighting for space aboard an overcrowded dinghy
The dinghy dips into the water and appears close to capsizing as migrants fight aboard the vessel
People trying to board topple onto those already inside before being pushed back
Passengers are packed tightly together, many wearing bright orange life jackets, while others rely on winter coats and hats to protect them from the cold.
Some wade through knee-deep water and struggle against the waves as they try to secure a place on the dinghies during the chaotic departures.
Several people are also seen carrying children. Since January, thousands of children have made the 21-mile crossing, including at least 2,182 who travelled alone, according to figures released to Our News Outlet by Kent County Council this week. That amounts to more than 200 unaccompanied children a month.
At a French port, a photographer pursued an alleged people smuggler across the beach and tried unsuccessfully to persuade gendarmes, the French military police, to arrest him.
Police vehicles with flashing lights were at the scene as groups of migrants ran across the sand, apparently trying to avoid possible arrest.
The photographer wrote on X: ‘I just identified and chased a people smuggler from the boat onto the beach with the gendarmes, and they had opportunity to arrest him and they did not. I got so close to him while running. I could’ve tackled.’
The footage and photographs illustrate the lengths some people are willing to go to secure a place on the dangerous journey.
On Friday, a migrant carrying a knife reportedly boarded a boat bound for Britain after threatening another man and saying: ‘I will kill you!’
Migrants were filmed trying to squeeze themselves and their families into small boats bound for the UK
Large groups scramble aboard overloaded inflatables as they attempt to cross from France to Dover
Migrants arrived in Dover on Friday, with 934 people believed to have crossed the Channel over two days
Footage from Hardelot-Plage in northern France shows dozens of migrants climbing into a dinghy before an argument develops between a man already aboard and another person attempting to board.
The dispute intensifies when the man in the water produces a knife and lunges towards the passenger on the boat.
‘I will kill you,’ he is heard saying while waving the weapon. Another person nearby attempts to hold him back.
A British man at the scene can be heard warning the coastguard that the migrant is armed.
The man appears to drop the knife into the water before reaching his intended target.
Moments later, he appears to board the dinghy, although it is not known whether he eventually reached the UK.
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The confrontation is the latest in a series of violent incidents linked to attempts to cross the Channel.
In July, French police opened an investigation after a migrant’s body was discovered on a beach in Calais.
Photographs and video show migrants taking significant risks to secure a place on the perilous Channel crossing
A photographer pursued an alleged people smuggler across a French beach while trying unsuccessfully to get police to intervene
Another 671 migrants arrived in the UK on Friday, compared with 263 people on three boats the previous day
Migrants wade through the water at night while attempting to board a small boat off Hardelot in France
At least 2,182 children have made the 21-mile crossing alone since January, according to Kent County Council figures
Investigators suspect that those responsible may have escaped to Britain aboard a small boat.
In August, an Afghan national was also found dead aboard a dinghy in the Channel.
It emerged yesterday that migrants were preparing to travel to Britain in a custom-made boat decorated in the colours of the Kurdish flag, apparently referencing the trafficking gangs operating across the Channel.
Police watched as more than 20 men were filmed aboard the dinghy off a Belgian beach early on Thursday.
Unlike the usual black PVC inflatables, the boat featured red, white and green horizontal stripes, known as ‘fesses’, along with the yellow sunburst emblem associated with the Kurdish flag, which was adopted in 1946.
The boat departed at about 3am local time from a beach close to the French border.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘Far from smashing the gangs as Labour promised, the Kurdish people smugglers are now openly laughing in the Government’s faces with an illegal immigrant boat decked in their national colours.
‘The coming days are calm seas for a fortnight or so, and hundreds of illegal immigrants are set to flock across the Channel.
‘The Government’s returns deal with France has collapsed and the authorities the other side of the Channel are standing by as illegal immigrants and people smugglers run amok and launch ever larger boats.
‘Shabana Mahmood has failed.’
A migrant attempting to cross the Channel appeared to threaten another man with a knife
A dinghy seen off the Belgian coast early Thursday was painted in the distinctive colours of the Kurdish flag, apparently referencing Channel trafficking gangs
Police watched as more than 20 men boarded the dinghy. Chris Philp said Kurdish people smugglers were ‘openly laughing in the Government’s faces’
He added: ‘The only solution is the Conservative borders plan – leave the European Convention on Human Rights so we can deport all illegal immigrants upon arrival. Then the crossings will stop.’
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote on X: ‘The Belgian authorities, like the French, are just standing and watching.
‘This boat is even custom-made to match the Kurdish flag. The gangs are laughing at us.’
It remains unclear whether the dinghy successfully crossed the Channel on Thursday.
Since Labour entered government, 85,649 migrants have reached the UK in small boats, including 8,466 since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister in July.
A Home Office spokesman previously said: ‘We have made progress tackling the small boats. Crossings are down significantly, and we have just recorded the lowest number of summer arrivals since 2020.
‘Joint efforts with international partners have prevented over 50,000 crossing attempts and seized 1,100 boats and engines since the election.
‘But we must go further. That’s why we are boosting the number of officers on the ground in France and removing the pull factors drawing people here through illegal and dangerous routes.’
