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  • Downing Street says the small boat situation in the English Channel is deteriorating.

  • French police are struggling to halt a potentially record-breaking surge of people from reaching the UK in small boats organised by a growing network of smuggling gangs.

  • More than 16,500 people have crossed the Channel this year alone.

  • That's up 45% on the same period last year.

  • Andrew Harding has been to the beaches of northern France to see the challenge faced by the authorities as smuggling gangs change their tactics.

  • A serene stretch of French sand south of Calais and the end of another busy night.

  • Below, some of the many hundreds of people who've been trying to dodge the police and catch a ride on a smuggler's boat.

  • And here's how that struggle has been playing out.

  • Moments earlier, on the very same beach, dozens of migrants gathering in the shallows.

  • Camerawoman Lea Gage and I wade out towards them.

  • The boat circles, people waiting their turn as if queuing for a bus or a taxi.

  • On board, the man on the left appears to be directing things.

  • The next group is moving forwards to try and get on board.

  • Are you going to get on?

  • Yeah.

  • Are you going to England?

  • Yeah, I'm going to England.

  • Last on, families, some struggling.

  • There are people here from Afghanistan, Eritrea.

  • The so-called taxi boat system is the smugglers' latest tactic.

  • They launch the boats in secret, sometimes up to 100 kilometres away, then cruise along the coast, picking up passengers and avoiding the police.

  • This is the problem for the French police.

  • As soon as these migrants are in the water, the police say they cannot intervene.

  • And so 18 police officers stand and watch.

  • What would you say to people in Britain watching these pictures and thinking, surely the French police can do more?

  • The police will be able to be more effective when our government changes the rules to authorise us to intercept a boat when it's already in the water.

  • But we need to be careful not to put the in more danger.

  • It's been clear for days that another surge of small boat crossings was coming, a build-up of people in the camps, good weather forecast.

  • And so a last proper meal for Luna from Somalia before she sets off again.

  • How many times have you tried to cross?

  • Me, I tried 12 times.

  • Can you swim?

  • No, I don't swim.

  • It's risky.

  • And sometimes the boat is very far.

  • That's why women and children left so many times behind.

  • So the men clamber on board the boat.

  • It's harder for you.

  • Yeah, it's harder for us.

  • Afternoon, and the crowds cram into buses, guided by their smugglers, to be dropped off along a huge stretch of French coastline.

  • Nighttime, and the French police are getting good at spotting the migrants with their drones, the camera picking up people sitting round a fire.

  • But as so often, the smugglers are a step ahead.

  • And now, frustrating news reaches the police.

  • Up the coast, this car has just raced onto the beach itself, with a taxi boat strapped to the roof, ready to launch in seconds.

  • Too quick for the police.

  • So the smugglers are adapting again.

  • But it's not over.

  • The police are now trying to catch the smugglers before they can pick up any passengers.

  • So we're now racing up the coast, following the police, as they try to track a taxi boat, which is already at sea, and we can actually see it off the coast just there.

  • It's a group of migrants up ahead.

  • They're waiting in the water, hoping to catch a taxi boat, which we can see arriving just now.

  • Within minutes, dozens of people have managed to squeeze on board, and the taxi boat sets off towards England.

  • The French police say overall, they stop more than two-thirds of small boat launches on land.

  • But the smugglers are still winning.

  • On this occasion, perhaps a dozen people are left behind.

  • One couple pondering, wordlessly, whether to linger or to head back to shore.

  • The lieu of Britain means most here will try again, and again.

  • Andrew Harding, BBC News, Northern France.

Downing Street says the small boat situation in the English Channel is deteriorating.

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B1 police boat taxi french small boat smuggling

Smuggling gangs switch tactics to use 'taxi boats' for journeys across the Channel | BBC News

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    林宜悉 posted on 2025/06/18
Video vocabulary

Keywords

struggle

US /ˈstrʌɡəl/

UK /'strʌɡl/

  • noun
  • Strong efforts made to do something difficult
  • A prolonged effort for something
  • A difficult or challenging situation or task
  • verb
  • To try very hard to do something difficult
  • other
  • To try very hard to do, achieve, or deal with something that is difficult or that causes problems
  • To fight or struggle violently
stretch

US /strɛtʃ/

UK /stretʃ/

  • noun
  • Making arm, leg muscles longer to ease them
  • A consecutive row of things
  • A period of time
  • verb
  • To make your arm, leg muscles long to ease them
  • To make something bigger by pulling on it
potentially

US /pəˈtɛnʃəlɪ/

UK /pə'tenʃəlɪ/

  • adverb
  • That could happen or become reality
  • With the capacity to develop or happen in the future
  • With the capacity to develop or happen in the future.
  • With the capacity to develop or happen in the future
effective

US /ɪˈfɛktɪv/

UK /ɪˈfektɪv/

  • adjective
  • In operation; operative.
  • Successful in producing a desired or intended result.
  • Working efficiently to produce a desired result
  • In operation; in force.
  • Successful in producing a desired or intended result.
  • Producing a desired or intended result.
  • Actual rather than nominal; real.
  • Skillful and producing the intended result.
surge

US /sɜ:rdʒ/

UK /sɜ:dʒ/

  • noun
  • Sudden movement in one direction by many
  • Sudden or unexpected increase in amount
  • Unexpected increase or movement, as in sea/prices
  • verb
  • To move unexpectedly and quickly in one direction
  • To rise to an unexpected height
spot

US /spɑt/

UK /spɒt/

  • noun
  • A certain place or area
  • A difficult time; awkward situation
  • Place or ranking on a list
  • A small amount of (substance help hard work etc.)
  • Mark caused by a drop of liquid, food, etc.
  • verb
  • To see someone or something by chance
squeeze

US /skwiz/

UK /skwi:z/

  • noun
  • Amount of liquid from firmly pressing e.g. orange
  • Act of putting pressure on, as to get liquid out
  • When there is not enough space for things/people
  • Act of firmly pressing on two or more sides
  • verb
  • To force or threaten someone to give you something
  • To strongly compress something to get liquid out
  • To be pressed together or crowded into an area
  • To press together the opposite sides of something
  • To reduce the amount of something
track

US /træk/

UK /træk/

  • verb
  • To use marks to follow a wild animal
  • To move a certain way/follow a particular course
  • To record and examine the progress of something
  • To follow the trail or movements of someone or something.
  • To monitor or record the progress or development of something.
  • noun
  • A prepared course for racing, especially for athletes.
  • A circular course for running
  • A circular path on a magnetic disk or tape on which data can be recorded.
  • Course or way someone takes, e.g. in education
  • A mark or impression left by a moving object.
  • A recording of a song or piece of music.
  • A recording of a song or piece of music.
  • A rough path or minor road.
  • The rails on which a train runs.
  • The rails on which a train runs.
  • A prepared course for racing.
  • Path in a field or a forest made by walkers
  • Often circular course laid out for car racing
  • One of multiple musical recordings on an album
  • Band surrounding the wheels of a tank
  • Metal lines that trains ride on
  • One of the rails making up a railway line.
  • other
  • To follow the trail or movements of someone or something.
proper

US /ˈprɑpɚ/

UK /'prɒpə(r)/

  • adjective
  • Correct according to social or moral rules
  • Correct or appropriate; suitable for the purpose or occasion.
  • Conforming to conventionally accepted standards of behavior or morals.
  • Genuine; truly what something is said or regarded to be.
  • (of a noun) denoting a particular person, place, or thing.
  • Thorough; complete.
  • Behaving in a polite and socially acceptable way.
occasion

US /əˈkeʒən/

UK /ə'keɪʒn/

  • noun
  • A cause or reason.
  • Significant or important event or function
  • A need or reason.
  • A favorable or suitable time or opportunity.
  • Time when something happens or takes place
  • A reason or cause.
  • other
  • To cause or give rise to.
  • To cause or give rise to.
  • verb
  • To make or cause something to happen; to lead to