Smugglers Launch Boat in Kurdish Flag Colours From Belgium, Eight Days After Border Chief Said the Route Was ‘Pretty Much Shut Down’

News | By Matt, Editor

Smuggling gangs launched a dinghy in the colours of the Kurdish flag from a Belgian beach on Thursday, as police on the sand watched and did not step in. More than 20 men were filmed aboard at De Panne, near the French border, at about 3am local time. (Telegraph, 29 October 2026; Daily Mail, 29 October 2026)

Eight days earlier, on Wednesday 21 October, the Government’s interim Border Security Commander, Duncan Capps, told MPs the Belgian route had been “pretty much shut down”. (Home Affairs Committee, 21 October 2026) The launch came the same day small boats returned to the Channel after three weeks of storms, as we reported in Boats back in the Channel as 3,800 wait in French camps.

Key facts

• The boat: instead of the usual black PVC, it had the red, white and green stripes and yellow sunburst of the Kurdish flag. (Telegraph)
• Belgium: police chief Christiaan De Ridder told The Sun that 33 boats had left the Belgian coast this year. “We’ve never seen that kind of number in Belgium before,” he said. (The Sun)
• Did it reach Britain? Not known. The Mail said a Border Force vessel, BSC Courageous, was working east of Calais. The Home Office had not published Thursday’s arrivals by Friday lunchtime. (Daily Mail; Home Office)
• The numbers: 20,935 people have crossed this year, down 43% on the same point in 2025. The Home Office recorded no arrivals from 22 to 28 October, during the storms. (Home Affairs Committee; Home Office)

What the border chief told MPs

Capps told the Home Affairs Committee that a move into Belgium had been “a real fear of mine at the beginning of the year”, so a joint taskforce was set up with the Belgians. “Not only have we pretty much shut down that route, but we have increased co-operation between France and Belgium and Belgium and the Netherlands,” he said. (Home Affairs Committee)

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In August Britain was preparing a law enforcement pact with Belgium to tackle the gangs, as we reported at the time. At the same hearing Capps warned that almost 3,800 people were waiting in the camps near Calais and Dunkirk, about double the usual number. (BBN, 21 October)

“Laughing at us”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage posted on X on Thursday: “The boats are now launching from Belgium. 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.” (@Nigel_Farage, 29 October 2026)

On Friday morning he went further, in a post with his own video: “We now have gangs painting the boats their national colours … We’re being invaded from Calais, Normandy – and now Belgium too. I will deploy the Royal Navy and stop the boats forever.” (@Nigel_Farage, 30 October 2026)

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said that, far from smashing the gangs as Labour promised, the smugglers were “now openly laughing in the Government’s faces”. He added: “The Government’s returns deal with France has collapsed,” and said: “Shabana Mahmood has failed.” (Daily Mail)

Watch Farage’s video

We now have gangs painting the boats their national colours. They are taking the piss.

We’re being invaded from Calais, Normandy – and now Belgium too.

I will deploy the Royal Navy and stop the boats forever. pic.twitter.com/55sLY6piks

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) October 30, 2026

What happens next

Philp said calm seas were forecast “for a fortnight or so”, which would allow more crossings. (Daily Mail) The Home Office normally publishes each day’s figures the following day, so Thursday’s count should show whether the Belgian boat reached Britain.

Farage’s Navy pledge is a promise for a future Reform government, not current policy. On 13 October he said Reform would “pick these people up and take them back to France”, and denied that troops would be allowed to fire on the boats after Robert Jenrick’s “lethal force” remark. (Guardian, 13 October 2026; Independent) He first set out the Navy plan in August, as we covered in Farage’s fortnight fix.

Our view

This section is opinion.

Credit where it is due: crossings are down this year. But a route that is “pretty much shut down” does not send a custom-painted boat into the sea in front of the police eight days later. The gangs are not hiding. They are advertising.

Labour’s answer is more taskforces, more pacts and talk of EU databases. Ministers have also just opened new refugee sponsorship routes. Britain left the EU to control its own borders. That means a returns policy that works and a Government that stops boasting until the boats stop.

FAQ

Where is De Panne?

It is a resort on the Belgian coast, right by the French border and less than 15 miles east of Dunkirk.

How many people have crossed the Channel in 2026?

The Home Office has recorded 20,935, against just under 37,000 at the same point last year. For the full picture, see our small boat crossings explainer.

Sources

• The Telegraph, Charles Hymas, 29 October 2026: Traffickers ‘laughing at us’ with dinghy in Kurdish colours
• Daily Mail, David Barrett, 29 October 2026: ‘The gangs are laughing at us’
• The Sun: Moment migrant dinghy leaves Belgium for UK
• Home Affairs Committee: Oral evidence, Border Security Command, 21 October 2026
• Home Office: Small boat arrivals: last 7 days (updated 29 October 2026)
• X: @Nigel_Farage, 29 October 2026; @Nigel_Farage, 30 October 2026
• The Guardian, Jessica Elgot, 13 October 2026: Farage denies Reform would let troops shoot small boats
• Main image: Nigel Farage addressing a Reform UK rally at Trago Mills, Devon, June 2024. Photo: Owain Davies / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0.