More than 500 people crossed the Channel this weekend (Image: Getty)
More than 19,000 migrants have crossed the Channel in small boats this year, shocking figures have confirmed.
Some 500 asylum seekers were detected in the Dover Strait over the weekend, heaping more pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to end the crisis.
This is a 10% increase on the figure recorded last year, which was 17,346.
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And locals in Grand-Fort Phillipe have warned of “guerrilla warfare” amid rising violence between police and those hoping to cross the Channel. Charities have also warned of "new" levels of "intensity" in clashes.
Some 2,185 people have successfully crossed the busy strait in 41 dinghies in August so far.
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Smugglers are continuing to pack flimsy inflatable boats – despite bad weather hampering their efforts – in a bid to rake in tens of thousands for every crossing.
Eight people had to be rescued by French authorities on Saturday off the coast of Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer.
On the same day, 492 people made it to the UK after being picked up by Border Force boats in the busy shipping lane.
Five and a half thousand people have now made the journey since Labour took charge, despite their commitment to 'smash the gangs'.
In a statement, the Home Office said: "We all want to see an end to dangerous small boat crossings, which are undermining border security and putting lives at risk.
"The new Government is taking steps to boost our border security, setting up a new Border Security Command which will bring together our intelligence and enforcement agencies, equipped with new counter-terror-style powers and hundreds of personnel stationed in the UK and overseas, to smash the criminal smuggling gangs making millions in profit.”
Labour’s Border Security Command will see more British officers seconded to Europol in a bid to “smash the gangs”.
And Sir Keir wants to forge closer relations with Europe to end the crisis.
But French leaders are facing growing anger over the number of migrants gathering in northern France hoping to cross to England.
Patrice Vergriete, the transport minister and former mayor of nearby Dunkirk , expressed support for Mr Clinquart and pledged to resolve the crisis with British help.
He said: “With Sony Clinquart, I am also working to ensure that the residents of Grand-Fort-Philippe affected by these events can obtain compensation for the damage in the best possible conditions.
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“We are committed to this and we will be at their side in this area as well. The elected representatives of the urban community are ready to play their full part in the solutions that can be found, in the longer term, in resolving this migration crisis in conjunction with our British counterparts.”
Last week, police were attacked by a large group of migrants, angered by attempts to arrest a suspected people smuggler.
Authorities said the man was carrying life jackets and other pieces of marine equipment used in inflatable migrant boats.
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Police mounted simultaneous operations to detain the suspect and prevent a group of 100 migrants nearby from launching their boat.
But Salomé Bahri, coordinator of the Utopia 56 association in Grande-Synthe told France 3: “The baton blows, the tear gas attacks, the punctured boats… This is nothing new.
“What is new is the recurrence and intensity of the violence.”