The UK’s largest lifeboat charity has said it will continue to rescue migrants who get into trouble while trying to cross the Channel in small boats, saying its staff work “without judgement or preference”.
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) has faced criticism over small boat rescues, but has insisted its job is to “rescue anyone in trouble at sea”. Data released by the charity showed Channel crossing incidents made up just 1.2 per cent of its total launches in 2024.
Recent weeks have seen a string of protests across the UK outside hotels believed to be housing asylum seekers amid a rise in tensions over immigration. Police have clashed with demonstrators and counter-protesters outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, after an asylum seeker was charged with alleged sexual assault.
Hundreds of protesters have gathered on five occasions across the last three weeks, wearing T-shirts and waving signs with slogans such as “save our kids”. The protests have sparked fears of widespread unrest, as seen after the Southport stabbings last summer, and demonstrations have also taken place outside hotels in Leeds, Greater Manchester, and London.
But volunteers from the charity have urged people to remember migrants who find themselves in dangerous situations at sea “genuinely need help”.
Dan Sinclair, who volunteers with Walmer RNLI, said as a father, scenes he has seen in the Channel go “straight through my heart”.
“‘One thing that I would like people to understand and to realise is that when we are tasked to a small boat somewhere in the Channel, these people genuinely need our help,” he said. “They are in distress. They’re in unseaworthy boats offshore, taking on water in all states and conditions. They could be frozen, their legs could be paralysed, they can’t talk, they’ve been in that position for ages, they could be crushed, families separated. We’re doing what we can to try and help save every single person, to keep families united and to keep people alive.”
He remembered one particular “horrible, horrible” situation where a family was stuck on a boat sinking in front of their eyes.
“There was a little girl on that boat, she looked at me straight in the eye and said: ‘I love you, thank you,’” he said. “As a father, that was straight through my heart. When I got home, I knew I had to go speak to my daughter and give her a big cuddle and a big kiss. It just put lots of things into perspective that these people need our help.”
The RNLI rescued 1,371 people from incidents involving small boats crossing the channel in 2024, the charity said, making up 3.7 per cent of the total number of people recorded to have crossed the Channel in small boats last year.
It comes ahead of the return of Saving Lives at Sea on BBC Two this week.
RNLI head of lifeboats Simon Ling said: “Our volunteer lifeboat crews are normal people doing extraordinary things, often in the most challenging circumstances imaginable and we are extremely proud of their continued commitment to saving lives at sea.
“The crew testimony and rescue footage show the reality of what our volunteer lifeboat crews face when they launch to the aid of people crossing the Channel at the request of HM Coastguard. They are often confronted with highly challenging rescue scenarios, involving large numbers of distressed people in the water.
“We are incredibly proud of our crews who continue to respond selflessly to their pagers, day or night, simply to help others. We know that anyone can drown but no one should and each time our crews are requested to launch by HM Coastguard they do so knowing that someone’s father, mother, son or daughter need our help.
“We are a voluntary lifesaving rescue service, and will rescue anyone in trouble at sea, as the RNLI has been doing for more than 200 years, without judgement or preference.”
Saving Lives at Sea airs on BBC Two at 8pm on Thursday.
Trump speaks of ‘great love’ for Scotland and labels Starmer a ‘tax cutter’
Trump praises UK on trying to reduce small boat crossings
Man dies trying to cross English Channel to the UK
Live: Lionesses victory parade as fans line London streets to celebrate Euro 2025 win
Lionesses parade live: Fans sing ‘it’s coming home’ as Euro 2025 winners celebrate
Welfare cuts will still plunge thousands into poverty despite U-turn, MPs warn
