A small boat, customized with colors resembling the Kurdish flag, was observed carrying more than 20 men off a Belgian beach early Thursday morning, with local police present but reportedly not intervening. The vessel, departing from a beach near the French border around 3 a.m. local time, featured red, white, and green stripes along with a yellow sunburst emblem, colors associated with the Kurdish flag adopted in 1946.
A witness described the scene, stating, "This boat is just floating about five metres off [the beach] and the Belgian police are doing nothing. How crazy is this? The police could come and slash this boat easily to stop it." It remains unclear if the dinghy successfully crossed the English Channel.
The incident drew sharp criticism from UK politicians. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp commented, "Far from smashing the gangs as Labour promised, the Kurdish people smugglers are now openly laughing in the Government’s faces with an illegal immigrant boat decked in their national colours." He added, "The coming days are the calm sea for a fortnight or so, and hundreds of illegal immigrants are set to flock across the Channel. The Government’s returns deal with France has collapsed and the authorities the other side of the Channel are standing by as illegal immigrants and people smugglers run amok and launch ever larger boats. Shabana Mahmood has failed." Philp advocated for the Conservative borders plan, stating, "The only solution is the Conservative borders plan - leave the European Convention on Human Rights so we can deport all illegal immigrants upon arrival. Then the crossings will stop."
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage echoed these sentiments on social media, tweeting, "The Belgian authorities, like the French, are just standing and watching. This boat is even custom-made to match the Kurdish flag. The gangs are laughing at us."
This event follows reports from earlier in the month when the National Crime Agency (NCA) director general of operations, Rob Jones, informed MPs that Iraqi Kurds were "over-represented" in illegal people-trafficking operations. In 2024, the NCA reported that 18 members of a people-smuggling gang, primarily Iraqi Kurds, who were jailed in France were considered "among the most prolific" encountered, potentially responsible for up to 10,000 Channel crossings. Their ringleader, Mirkhan Rasoul, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Lille.
If any migrant boats reach British soil, it would mark the first arrival since October 7, following a period of inclement weather in the Channel. Data indicates that since the Labour party came to power, 85,649 small boat migrants have arrived in the UK.