Six Arrested at Anti-Immigration Protest as Migrant Boat Completes 36-Hour Channel Crossing

UK police confirmed they arrested six people following an anti-immigration demonstration in southern England that “became hostile towards officers,” as a vessel carrying migrants spent 36 hours crossing the English Channel from France.

Amid intensified enforcement by French and British authorities, migrants seeking to reach the UK have increasingly turned to alternative strategies in recent months, including deploying larger inflatable boats and utilising new crossing routes.

This shift has provoked fresh outrage in England, where anti-immigration protesters have gathered in southern coastal towns with the stated aim of disrupting the arrival of asylum seekers.

Approximately 200 protesters, some dressed in black and wearing face coverings, assembled in Gosport in southern England to demonstrate against the expected arrival of a migrant vessel, according to UK media reports.

According to the UK’s volunteer coastguard, the makeshift boat had been at sea for 36 hours. The dinghy, carrying 51 migrants, ultimately made landfall in Dover in the southeast.

French authorities reported that migrants aboard the “ill-suited” vessel declined assistance, as they were “determined to take all risks to reach the United Kingdom.”

The occupants endured “more than 33 hours at sea in precarious conditions,” according to a statement issued by the French government’s Maritime Prefecture of the Channel and the North Sea.

Earlier this month, hundreds of demonstrators attempted to block the arrival of asylum seekers who had travelled by small boat in Portsmouth, located in the southern county of Hampshire.

Authorities are concerned that Hampshire — where small boat arrivals have historically been uncommon — is emerging as a new target destination for Channel crossings.

Such vessels typically arrive further east in Kent, where the distance between the French and British coasts is shorter.

French officials have also reported facing “increased” pressure as migrants begin departing from locations further west, where border patrol coverage is thinner.

Britain continues to grapple with the challenge of curbing these perilous journeys, which have contributed to growing support for the hard-right Reform UK party.

The Home Office said in early September that the number of crossings in August had fallen to its lowest level since records began in 2018, with overall migrant arrivals also at their lowest since 2020.

However, authorities have noted a rise in the number of passengers travelling per boat in recent months.

According to Home Office data as of Sunday, 17,480 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats since the start of the year.

This represents only a small fraction of the total number of people seeking to relocate to Britain annually. Government data shows that the vast majority arrive through legal routes.

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