A flotilla of migrants in giant inflatable boats left the French coast on a UK-bound voyage across the Channel in choppy conditions today – without a French police officer in sight.
MailOnline witnessed dinghies full of migrants slipping away from two remote and near deserted beaches south of Calais.
The migrants who had sent the night hiding in sand dunes were seen manhandling two huge 50ft long black inflatables down cliff tops to reach the sea.
Early morning French dog walkers and a jogger watched in amazement as the two separate groups, each numbering around 40 people, ran to the water’s edge with their giant boats.
People smuggling minders waded knee deep in the sea as the migrants clambered aboard for the perilous voyage across the English channel.
There were cheers and whoops from one boat as they started their Yamaha outboard engine and headed out into the surf, intent on a new life in the UK.
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MailOnline witnessed at least boats full of migrants slipping away from two remote and near deserted beaches south of Calais
Most of the two groups were seen wearing bright orange life jackets although a few did not have any buoyancy aids as they left from the beaches near the seaside town of Wimereux
The incredible scenes unfolded without a single police officer being seen anywhere in the area, despite the French authorities having pledged to crack down on migrant boats.
The boats set sail after a MailOnline reporter witnessed lifejackets being openly handed out at a makeshift migrant camp in Grand Synthe near Dunkirk.
Groups of men were seen arriving with bags crammed full of the brand new bright orange life jackets as charities gave out free food and medication on Monday afternoon.
Later several groups of migrants were seen waiting at a nearby bus stop opposite an Auchan superstore, carrying their life jackets in bags.
A migrant from one group who said he was an Iraqi Kurd told MailOnline: “We are all Arabs. Some of us are from Syria. We just want to get to the UK.
Shrugging his shoulders, he added: “Of course we are going to cross the sea, but we don’t know when it is going to happen.
“We have been given our jackets and we are waiting for instructions. We don’t know if it will be tonight?”.
The migrants who had sent the night hiding in sand dunes were seen manhandling two huge 50ft long black inflatables down cliff tops to reach the sea
There were cheers and whoops from one boat as they started their Yamaha outboard engine and headed out into the surf, intent on a new life in the UK.
The migrant said he had arrived in Grand Synthe after being smuggled in lorries from Turkey, but he refused to say how much he had paid people
