The migrant population gathering along France’s northern coastline is becoming increasingly vulnerable, with aid groups reporting a marked rise in women, children and families remaining
for longer periods near the Channel as successful crossings to Britain become harder.
The shift has raised concerns among humanitarian organisations about growing exposure to trafficking, sexual exploitation and violence — as well as the dangers posed by increasingly overcrowded boats attempting to reach the UK.
The risks were underscored by two deadly incidents in recent weeks.
On July 30, a French vessel monitoring a migrant boat bound for Britain found three people unconscious on board. All three were later pronounced dead after being brought to the port of Dunkirk. They were women, according to the local prosecutor's office, which opened an investigation.
Five days later, 173 migrants were rescued after another Channel boat got into difficulty. More than 50 of those rescued were women and children.
For organisations working along the coast, the incidents reflect a broader change in the composition of the migrant population.
Angèle Vettorello, co-ordinator of the local Utopia 56 team in Calais, said women and children can now account for around half of those left behind after an attempted crossing. At the Loon-Plage camp, she estimated that women and children make up about 40 per cent of residents, adding that the trend is visible across the northern coastline.
Léa Biteau, a project manager with Secours Catholique in Calais, said the increase was not a temporary development but had been building for more than a year.
Longer waits on the French coast
The Refugee Women’s Centre, which specialises in supporting displaced women and families living without stable accommodation in northern France, has also recorded a sharp increase.
Célia Prével, the organisation's co-ordinator, said the change had become particularly apparent since 2024.
According to figures supplied to InfoMigrants, the centre assisted more than 3,000 women during the first part of 2026. The number of women supported was expected to reach 5,200 in 2025, compared with 2,200 in 2024. Support for children also rose sharply, reaching 5,500 in 2025 against 2,100 the previous year. Since the start of 2026, around 3,100 children have already been assisted.
Aid organisations attribute the increase partly to the broader growth in the migrant population along the coast. They point to difficult winter weather, tighter European migration policies and stepped-up border controls as factors making crossings more difficult.
The result, they say, is a growing population waiting for an opportunity to cross.
"There are fewer crossings, so people are staying longer on the coast," Biteau said.
Vettorello said some migrants now spend several days in the dunes waiting for an opportunity to board a boat.
French authorities have confirmed that the number of migrants present around Calais has increased. Officials told La Voix du Nord in early August that between 840 and 910 migrants were in the area — an increase on the same period last year.
At the same time, the number successfully reaching Britain has fallen substantially.
Some 15,897 migrants had arrived on the English coast since the beginning of 2026, compared with 27,997 during the equivalent period in 2025 — a decline of about 43 per cent. In April, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez said successful Channel crossings were running 56 per cent below the previous year's level.
Women and children face particular risks
The humanitarian consequences are especially serious for families, many of whom originate from Eritrea, Afghanistan, Sudan and Somalia.
Once they reach the French coast, families generally have access to emergency accommodation for only a limited period before being left to survive in makeshift camps or informal settlements.
For aid workers, this creates a particularly dangerous situation for women and children.
"This population is far more vulnerable," Vettorello said, warning of increased exposure to sexual violence, trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Biteau said the existing system offered only limited protection.
"There are very few protection mechanisms for children and women," she said. "We do the best we can with the resources available to us, but they are limited."
The dangers do not end when migrants attempt to board boats.
On August 10, a vessel carrying around 230 people, including women and more than 20 children, reached Britain after a chaotic departure from the French coast.
Rescuers described a mass rush towards the roughly 15-metre inflatable boat as it was already in the water. The vessel was so overcrowded that several people fell overboard, while around 30 ended up in the sea. As the tide rose, some became separated from the main group.
For women and children, such scenes can be particularly perilous.
Utopia 56 warned that the growing size of the boats was not necessarily making crossings safer. Larger vessels can attract larger crowds at the shoreline, creating increasingly dangerous conditions during boarding.
"Many people trying to board a boat already in the water at the same time is a completely different situation," Vettorello said, describing the process as increasingly complex.
The danger, she warned, is straightforward: the larger the crowds and the more chaotic the boarding, the greater the possibility of a fatal accident. Photo by ukhomeoffice, Wikimedia commons.
