Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on April 8, 2026
2 min readLast updated: April 8, 2026
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Smugglers are increasingly launching migrant crossings to the UK from Belgian beaches, with 17 departures so far in 2026 versus just 0–2 annually since 2021, driven by escalating French coastal patrols and causing fears of more attempts as weather improves.
By Charlotte Van Campenhout and Amina Ismail
BRUSSELS, April 8 (Reuters) - Smugglers are increasingly using Belgium's shoreline to transport migrants to Britain since tighter controls began along the French coast, authorities say.
Though numbers remain comparatively small, there have been 17 such departures this year, compared with no more than two per year since 2021, police spokesperson An Berger told Reuters.
Britain and France have both cracked down on small boats bringing thousands of migrants each year across the English Channel, for example introducing a "one in, one out" scheme.
"The shift to Belgian beaches is driven by a combination of factors, and the intensification of French coastal patrols is the most significant one from our perspective," said EU border agency Frontex spokesperson Chris Borowski.
Smugglers have been using so-called "taxi boats," Borowski said. A vessel departs from a quiet beach in Belgium with a small group, then travels along the coast to pick-up points before crossing to the UK.
Migrants pay about 2,000 euros ($2,300) to smugglers, with no guarantee of boarding a boat and sometimes face threats and abuse including sexual violence, authorities say.
Last month, volunteers pulled 19 people from a sinking dinghy during a night-time operation in the Belgian coastal municipality of De Haan, Berger said, adding only one had a life jacket.
More attempts are expected with better weather coming.
"Every boat that departs is one too many," said Belgian Migration Minister Anneleen Van Bossuyt in an emailed response to a Reuters request for comment.
The numbers from Belgium are still dwarfed by the France-Britain route, where about 41,500 people were detected crossing the Channel in small boats last year.
Some 2,200 people crossed in the first two months of 2026, according to data from the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory.
($1 = 0.8664 euros)
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Amina Ismail, Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
Smugglers are shifting to Belgium due to intensified French coastal patrols making crossings from France riskier and harder.
There have been 17 migrant boat departures from Belgium in 2024, up from no more than two per year since 2021.
Smugglers use 'taxi boats' that pick up small groups from quiet Belgian beaches before attempting crossings to the UK.
Migrants pay about 2,000 euros (USD 2,300) per crossing attempt, often facing threats and abuse with no guarantee of boarding.
Crossings from Belgium remain much lower than from France, which saw around 41,500 Channel crossings in 2023.
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