LILLE, France, Jan 31, 2026 (BSS/AFP) - French authorities rescued more than 6,000 migrants attempting to reach Britain in small boats last year, while 25 people died and two remain missing, the maritime prefecture said Friday in its annual report.

France has long been a launchpad for migrants hoping to cross the Channel and start a better life in Britain, where the centre-left Labour government is under pressure from the anti-immigration hard right to curb arrivals.

Despite the dangers, attempts to make the perilous journey in flimsy craft have "not slowed down", said France's maritime prefecture for the Channel and the North Sea (PREMAR).

Nearly 50,000 people aboard 795 boats attempted to cross the Channel from France to the United Kingdom in 2025, according to the report.

French authorities rescued 6,177 people, while 25 died, it said.

An AFP tally based on official French and British sources puts the total death toll at at least 29.

In its report, PREMAR warned that smugglers were exposing migrants to ever greater risks.

The number of people per boat continues to increase, the report said, rising from an average of 26 in 2021 to 63 in 2025 -- with 10 boats that year having carried more than 100 people.

The authorities have also seen the continued use of so-called "taxi boats", which leave shore discreetly and almost empty before picking up dozens of migrants wading into shallow waters.

The British authorities recorded 41,472 small-boat arrivals in 2025, the second-highest total after a record 45,774 in 2022.