United Kingdom: Port of Dover blocked by anti-immigration protesters

Dozens of masked people, believed to be opposed to Channel crossings by migrants, blocked access to the port of Dover in southern England on Saturday, interrupting ferry traffic linking France and the United Kingdom.

“Traffic entering and exiting the port is disrupted due to an ongoing public order incident,” the Port of Dover said in a statement, with local police saying they were in “dialogue” with protesters. Port authorities added that protesters were blocking “all routes” of access and exit from the terminal.

Images shared online, which AFP could not independently verify, showed dozens of people dressed in black and wearing balaclavas flocking to the roads surrounding the port which connects the south of England to the north of France. Paul King, a local councilor from the anti-immigration Reform UK party, said he had been informed that it was a “protest to stop the boats”.

Decline in the number of migrant arrivals

Successive British governments have all promised to curb illegal crossings, a subject that has become highly flammable and which has largely fueled the rise of Reform UK in recent years, which has relentlessly exploited the issue. According to figures published at the end of August by the British authorities, asylum applications fell by 21% in the United Kingdom between the end of June 2025 and the end of June 2026, to their lowest level since 2022, while arrivals of migrants on small boats fell by 23%.

The port of Dover handles more than 10,000 goods vehicles and 15,000 private vehicles per day during the summer months, and handles a third of trade in goods between Great Britain and the EU, according to the port platform.