Migrant abandons toddler in scramble for small boat - The Telegraph

A migrant seeking to climb on to a dinghy to cross the Channel has been filmed leaving a child in the water.

Footage showed a man carrying a child on his shoulders through the waves at Equihen beach, south of Boulogne-sur-Mer, before leaving the child in a life jacket floating in the sea for a few seconds, face up.

Two members of the French emergency services, who were chest deep in the water, rescued the child and placed it on a lifeguard surfboard to be taken back to the beach.

It happened on Wednesday, when 781 migrants reached the UK in 10 boats, a record daily high so far for this year.

“What kind of father does that?” asked a commenter on social media. “Crashing waves. Chaos. A child struggling in the water, while [the migrant who had been carrying him] boards the boat rather than staying to protect him.

“I believe scenes like this expose the failures surrounding these crossings, from the charities involved, to the actions of the French authorities, to the decisions being made by the British Government.”

It is not known whether there was any relationship between the man and the child, who was aged three or four and dressed in a black, hooded anorak and an orange lifejacket.

France’s maritime prefect for the Channel and the North Sea said the child had been taken into care.

“The gendarmerie and the fire service subsequently took charge of the child, and the prefecture’s land-based services then took over. The child was taken into care following a medical incident,” said the prefecture.

Some 24 people died last year trying to cross the Channel, including children, down from the record year of 2024, when 73 migrants lost their lives.

Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: “This is a sickening and heartbreaking scene. A young child, apparently abandoned by his own father.

“A few weeks ago I saw a similar embarkation myself, where the young male illegal immigrants pushed women and children off the boat.

“The needy are abandoned and young, often-violent men push their way to the front and enter the UK. Women have recently died during crossings on these boats in unexplained circumstances. This illegal immigration route must be completely ended.

“The French government are morally culpable for letting it happen on their beaches when they could easily stop it, as the Belgians have done. The charities supporting this wave of illegal immigration are equally guilty for what is happening, including for the deaths that have occurred.”

It comes after Home Office figures released on Thursday showed that 781 made the crossing on Wednesday, a daily record for 2026, taking the total this year to 18,565.

That is down 42 per cent on the equivalent point last year, when the total stood at 32,188, and 26 per cent below the figure at this stage in 2024, which was 25,165.

Wednesday’s crossings beat the previous highs for the year of 752, on July 29, and 625 on Sept 6. The Government said it would push “further and harder” to bring crossing numbers down.