Footage Shows Migrants Whipped Onto Boat as Channel Crossings Hit Record High

Disturbing footage has surfaced showing a trafficker whipping migrants as they desperately clambered onto a small rubber boat bound for the UK, highlighting the growing brutality behind record-breaking Channel crossings this year.

In what seemed like a crude form of crowd control to stop the overloaded dinghy from capsizing, the smuggler’s accomplice stood waist-deep in water and lashed out with a cane at anyone trying to board too quickly. Terrified migrants, torn between avoiding the beatings and missing their chance to escape, scrambled aboard the flimsy vessel, reported Metro.co.uk.

The shocking scene comes as it’s confirmed more than 20,000 people have already made the dangerous journey across the English Channel in 2025 — and we’re only halfway through the year. That number includes 440 who crossed just yesterday alone, smashing previous records.

According to the latest Home Office figures, this year’s total is already 50% higher than the same point in 2024, and a staggering 79% higher than in 2023. It’s the fastest the 20,000 threshold has ever been reached since data collection began in 2018.

Back in 2022, that milestone wasn’t reached until mid-August, and even then, the year ended with an all-time high of 45,774 arrivals. But 2025 is on course to outpace even that.

With pressure mounting, the Government is pushing its Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill through Parliament. The legislation would give police new counterterror-style powers and introduce fresh criminal offences aimed at clamping down on the people-smuggling networks fuelling the crisis.

At the same time, the UK and France are said to be finalising a new migrant returns deal — a so-called “one in, one out” arrangement. Under the proposed system, migrants who reach the UK via small boats could be returned to France, while Britain would accept a matched number of individuals with verified claims, such as those joining family already living here.

Talks have also seen French authorities agreeing to ramp up coastal patrols, including giving police permission to intervene at sea when migrants are spotted climbing into boats directly from the water. That change hasn’t been rolled out yet, but it’s part of a wider effort to stem the tide of crossings.

Just days ago, more details emerged about the deal, which would also see a joint UK-France processing system introduced to better identify and fast-track cases where migrants have a legitimate right to join family in Britain.

The Government has repeatedly pledged to get tough on smuggling gangs, but the situation on the ground — particularly on the northern French coast — appears to be getting more desperate. Smugglers are resorting to increasingly violent methods to maintain control as numbers surge and pressure builds to pack boats with as many people as possible.

With crossings already well past 20,000, and the summer weather likely to bring more attempts, ministers are now facing renewed calls to act quickly before more lives are lost or exploited on the Channel.

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