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00:00 Thick metal chains hold in place a string of buoys in Calais, northern France, positioned
00:05 at the mouth of an estuary into the English Channel.
00:08 Its purpose is to stop migrant boats from France to the UK.
00:12 Charities have slammed the blockades.
00:15 "This won't make any difference to their desire to reach the UK.
00:20 It just means that now they'll leave from further away, so it doubles or could even
00:24 triple the distance of their crossing.
00:26 And so it doubles and triples the danger."
00:28 Once upon a time, migrants carried their boats to the sea and set off directly from the beaches.
00:35 But increased surveillance has made this impossible.
00:39 Now out of sight of law enforcement, migrant boats leave from the estuaries.
00:44 Traffickers pick up some passengers along the river and some along the northern shores
00:48 before making the crossing.
00:51 In Éthep, the buoy blockade has been an unsuccessful deterrent.
00:55 "Last night I was woken by shouts at 4am.
01:02 I opened the door and looked out and saw a few zodiacs carrying at least 20, 25 migrants,
01:08 if not more."
01:11 This group of migrants comes from Iraq, Syria and Mauritania.
01:16 Waiting near Éthep, the station, the youngest among them is only two years old.
01:20 All of them here for the same reason - awaiting instructions from traffickers in the hopes
01:26 of crossing to the UK later in the night.
01:29 "I want to go to London with my family."
01:33 45,000 migrants made the perilous crossing in 2022 and due to overcrowded boats, poor
01:39 conditions or a lack of life jackets, 7,000 had to be rescued at sea.
01:44 (applause)