Authorities in northern France found the body of a man, presumed to be a migrant, on a beach in northern France near Neufchatel-Hardelot on September 23. The discovery followed an irregular departure to cross the English Channel, authorities said.

The AFP news agency reported that the death was confirmed shortly after 9am local time that day; the corpse had reportedly been washed ashore near the coastal town of Bolougne-sur-Mer.

The body was secured by gendarme officials, as other migrants were seen nearby attempting to embark on yet another irregular journey to Britain, according to AFP. 

Local authorities said the man was "of African appearance" and looked like he was in his twenties — but has not been identified yet, according to local prosecutor Cecile Gressier.

The grisly discovery might be linked to the departure of a migrant boat that left from the same region at around 6am that same morning.

Victor Meyer, coordinator of the Utopia 56 migrant association in Calais, said the fatality could have been due to the "rush to board" that migrant vessel.

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Rise in 'taxi boat' journeys

Later the same day, another 20 people were seen entering the water along the same beach to be picked up by a so-called 'taxi boat.' Eyewitnesses said there were two children in that group.

However, the vessel never showed up, according to reports.

Taxi boats are smuggling vessels which facilitate irregular journeys while picking would-be migrants up in spots that can be several hundred meters into the sea in order to avoid detection by authorities. They also often make several stops at several different beaches before attempting the crossing towards Britain. 

Certain sections of the sea in this region have long stretches of low-lying coastlines as well as tidal waters that can expose wide parts of the beach. 

Another boat was reported to have departed only hundreds of meters away later in the day, with more than 60 people assumed to have boarded the small vessel.

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UK projected to have more than 20,000 arrivals in 2026

Irregular crossing of the Channel remain highly dangerous, as smugglers now squeeze more and more people onto vessels, which are not seaworthy nor designed to navigate the waters in the region, which is one of the busiest shipping channels in the world.

The latest official death toll for these crossings now stands at 17 fatalities for 2026, according to the Oxford Migration Observatory. The IOM's Missing Migrants project instead estimates at least 21 people to have died on the Channel route towards the UK since the beginning of the year. That estimate includes those who may have died trying to board lorries, trains or cars, or been killed in makeshift camps in northern France while awaiting departure.

Meanwhile since the beginning of the year, nearly 17,500 people have managed to cross the English Channel and arrive on Britain's southern coast, with most arrivals landing in the County of Kent.

Since 2018, about 200,000 people entered the UK via irregular methods to cross the Channel, according to official figures published by Britain's Home Office.

In 2025, more than 41,000 migrants managed to arrive in the UK by way of irregular sea entry.

Politics clouded by public opinion

The issue of boat arrivals remains a highly polarizing issue in the UK, as successive governments led by both the Conservative Party and by Labour have not managed to fully deliver on election pledges to "stop the boats."

Since last year, the Labour government has significantly increased its investment into combatting this method of irregular migration; above all, Britain has bolstered the funds paid to France to help fight illegal journeys to the country.

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The strategy appears to have paid off, as arrivals have begun to plummet by nearly half — taking current projections for the whole of 2026 into account.

However in the public eye, reports of even occasional arrivals continue to push many voters further to the right, with far-right parties like Reform UK and Restore UK gaining in popularity at an unprecedented speed.

Read AlsoFrench police say they stopped two thirds of small boats bound for UK in May

Far-right resorting to increasingly violent methods

The public debate on migration has also resulted in multiple instances of violence breaking out in the UK against irregular migrants. Numerous protests have resulted in injuries and arrests in the past two years, as various groups continue to call for a near-total ban on immigration — despite the fact that according to British law, everyone lodging an asylum application in the UK remains entitled to a full assessment of whether they truly need protection.

The latest instance of violence against migrants involves an anti-migrant activist called Daniel Thomas, known as Danny Tommo on social media.

The 37-year-old far-right activist was reportedly taken into custody following allegations of attempting to slash a migrant dinghy while it was still in the waters of the English Channel — although no irregular migrants were on the boat at the time.

However, a rescue service worker reportedly was still onboard the small vessel at the time of the incident — according to a video posted on social media channels, which clearly shows Thomas sticking a knife into an inflatable boat while shouting "You're in English territory."

Thomas has yet to be charged. According to UK law, police do not confirm the identity of a suspect until they are criminally charged. 

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RNLI becomes the latest target of hate campaigns

The incident follows a string of xenophobic and racist protests associated with Britain's far-right in recent months, including an event earlier this month, when masked demonstrators blocked the port of Dover in southeast England in an attempt to stop migrants being taken ashore by border officials.

Other protests have been held in Portsmouth, Tamworth and this week in Gosport, not far from Portsmouth, when protesters believed a migrant boat was about to land. According to the BBC, that boat eventually landed near Dover, in Kent.

Many hard-right activists — including those who belong to the extremist Patriot Platform — say that migrants should not intercepted at sea by the UK's border force to be brought to safety but rather left alone to suffer the consequences of attempting an irregular journey; this, however, would be in breach of international and maritime law.

Read AlsoWhat is the Patriot Platform, the group behind the anti-migrant protests in the UK?

Some anti-immigration activists have also been targeting the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) — a British volunteer-run organization with a 200-year history devoted to saving the lives of people who find themselves in distress at sea.

Some members of the volunteer group have suffered serious abuse online including doxxing — i.e. being identified online by name and identity, which often is accompanied by the publishing of personal information, including addresses and phone numbers.

In early September, to address this, the RNLI's Chief Executive, Peter Sparkes made a statement, explaining: "RNLI lifeboats were tasked by the coastguard and launched 9,058 times in 2025: 109 of those launches were to those in distress in the Channel, representing 1.2 per cent of the RNLI’s total rescue work. Nearly 95 per cent, of those who crossed the English Channel in small boats last year, one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, were picked up by the UK Border Force. Our mission, and our tasking is to rescue those women, children and men in danger of drowning. Anyone rescued from a small boat by the RNLI is immediately handed over to the UK’s immigration authorities. Illegal immigration is a political issue; the RNLI exists to save lives at sea."

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with AFP, AP