The UK and French authorities on Thursday were scrambling to combat small-boat migration across the Channel after 27 migrants drowned off Dunkirk on Wednesday.
French president Emmanuel Macron has called for accelerated attempts by France, the UK, Belgium and Germany to shut down people-trafficking operations across Europe in the aftermath of the disaster, with UK and French officials saying that some migrants arrive on the French coast by road from abroad and set off across the Channel within hours.
The French authorities announced that they had arrested five people on suspicion of people smuggling and aggravated involuntary manslaughter in connection with the journey.