Police tear-gas migrants as Channel crisis deepens

FRENCH police tear-gassed migrants desperately trying to reach the UK as No 10 admitted the situation at the English Channel was getting worse.

- STANLEY MURPHY-JOHNS and DAVID HUGHES

Hundreds gathered on the dunes before making dashes towards the Channel at Gravelines beach near Calais yesterday morning.

The French authorities stood by and watched as those not deterred by the gas waded into the water, intent on boarding a single dinghy to risk the Channel crossing.

The scenes at Gravelines unfolded just hours after a meeting between Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron in Canada to address a situation No 10 acknowledged was "deteriorating".

More than 16,300 people have crossed in small boats so far in 2025, a 43% increase on the same period in 2024.

At Gravelines yesterday, migrants of all ages who made it to the sea had to wait in waist-deep water for almost an hour before any of them were able to board the small boat.

An older man on crutches had to be carried out of the water by two others, who then ran off to rejoin the crowd. Many others did not make it to the water, raising their arms in surrender under a thick blanket of tear gas fired by the French Police Nationale.