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People smugglers are still profiting from small boats. Can the UK fix the crisis?

Global Published 11 October 2026, 17:00 · archived 11 Oct 2026

As ‘one in, one out’ scheme ends, refugees still want to cross the Channel despite French police aggression and hostile welcomesThe smuggler works quickly. Using a small shovel, he digs up a dinghy buried in a sand dune on a beach not far from Boulogne-sur-Mer, assembles it and affixes a motor in record time.“I never saw anyone work like this,” says Amad, from Iraq, one of a group of about 30 asylum seekers waiting to cross the Channel. “The UK government wants to stop the smugglers, but they are smart. They have plan A, plan B and plan C, so there is always a way for them to get people across...

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