What was claimed
A photo shows chaotic scenes in the English Channel with many people in life jackets crowded onto a small boat.
Our verdict
This isn’t correct. The picture was taken in 2021 and shows people off the coast of Libya.
Image does not show migrants arriving in the English Channel
Social media posts which share a picture of people on a crowded small boat alongside claims it shows “chaotic scenes” in the English Channel are misleading.
Similar posts have been circulating on Facebook with the image, in which dozens of people in lifejackets can be seen filling a boat which is dipping below the water line, alongside a caption saying: “Breaking news. Chaotic scenes in the English channel as multiple lifeboats launched to cope with demand.
“Over 620 migrants have arrived in Britain today, taking the total for the year to over 25000. More boats are still in the channel.”
The majority of the social media posts were shared on 30 July.
According to Home Office data on small boat arrivals, 643 migrants arrived in the week ending 27 July, with 898 migrants arriving on 13 boats on 30 July. Just over 25,400 migrants have crossed the English Channel in this way so far in 2025.
However, the image being shared is unrelated to these arrivals.
It was taken by Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres) in November 2021, and shows an overcrowded wooden boat off the coast of Libya in the Central Mediterranean Sea.
The international aid charity conducted a search-and-rescue operation on 16 November, and rescued 99 people, but sadly found 10 people had died in a lower deck of the boat.
Before sharing images that you see on social media claiming to depict current events, consider whether it comes from a verifiable and trustworthy source.
Our toolkit and guides to spotting misleading images can help you do this. You can read our other fact checks and explainers about asylum seekers, migration and refugees here.
This article is part of our work fact checking potentially false pictures, videos and stories on Facebook. You can read more about this—and find out how to report Facebook content—here. For the purposes of that scheme, we’ve rated this claim as missing context because this picture is from 2021 and shows migrants off the coast of Libya, not in the English Channel.