French charity volunteers from Opal’Exil were filmed accompanying child migrants towards a beach in northern France used to launch small boats to Britain. The footage has prompted accusations that the charity was facilitating Channel crossings, although it is not clear from the article whether the volunteers knew the migrants’ intended plans or helped them board boats; the charity did not respond to requests for comment.

The incident took place at Equihen beach near Boulogne-sur-Mer, where witnesses said three boats had already launched and two were offshore. Separate footage reportedly showed a child being left in the water during an attempted boarding and rescued by French emergency workers. On the same day, 781 migrants arrived in the UK on 10 boats, while 24 people died attempting the crossing last year, including children.