French Charity Workers Accused of Aiding Child Migrants Crossing Channel

French charity workers are facing accusations of assisting child migrants attempting to cross the English Channel. Video footage captured by an online media organization appears to show volunteers from the charity Opal'Exil accompanying a group of migrants, including several children, as they moved along a beach in northern France. The beach is reportedly used for launching rubber dinghies toward the UK.

The video, filmed on Wednesday at Equihen beach near Boulogne-sur-Mer, shows individuals wearing the charity's distinctive purple tabards carrying a child in a life jacket and holding the hands of other young migrants. The volunteers are seen removing their tabards and attempting to hide them once they realized they were being filmed.

Callum Smiles, from the media organization Voxpopuli, which filmed the footage, stated that three boats packed with migrants had already launched from the beach at the time. He expressed concern that the actions of the volunteers suggested they were actively participating in assisting trafficking, rather than solely providing humanitarian aid.

In the footage, Smiles confronts the charity workers, questioning their role in aiding illegal migration and asking about their responsibility if any of the children were to die during the crossing. Opal'Exil, founded last year, provides support to migrants attempting to cross the Channel. The charity did not respond to requests for comment.

The same day the video was taken, separate footage from the same beach showed a migrant leaving a child in the water while attempting to board a boat. French emergency services rescued the child and returned it to the shore.

Record numbers of migrants have attempted the Channel crossing this year, with 781 reaching the UK in 10 boats on the Wednesday the footage was filmed. While the number of deaths has decreased from a peak in 2024, 24 people lost their lives attempting the crossing last year.