politics
How to buy a ‘mega-dinghy’: the perilous new model of Channel crossing
Boats carrying hundreds of people are a clear and alarming trend. But where do such large vessels come from?
TL;DR
- Chinese companies are selling large dinghies, including military-style ones, capable of carrying hundreds of migrants across the Channel.
- One implicated company, Wuxi Funsor Marine Equipment, is a subsidiary of Weihai Yamar Outdoors Product Co Ltd, which was previously sanctioned by the UK for selling boats to people-smuggling gangs.
- The average number of people per dinghy crossing the Channel has increased significantly over the past decade, with recent crossings involving up to 230 people.
- Smugglers are sourcing boats and engines largely from China, transported through various European countries before reaching smuggling networks in Belgium and France.
- A recent Europol-coordinated raid in Germany resulted in seizures of equipment and cash related to these operations.
- Adem Savas, a key enabler of small boat crossings, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for people-smuggling and being part of an organized crime group, having supplied boats and engines to gangs.
- Experts suggest the shift to larger boats is a response to increased law enforcement pressure on supply chains and is more profitable for gangs.
- Europol is aware of the trend and has a dedicated taskforce monitoring migrant smuggling by boat across the Channel.