LONDON: On a bright July morning, shortly after sunrise, a group of young men and a few families gathered on a beach in northern France. Within minutes, a large black inflatable dinghy moved toward the coast and the men sprinted across the sand and into the waves. Two French policemen on the shore offered no resistance as the migrants rushed to get a place on the packed vessel that they hoped would take them across the English Channel and to a new life in the UK.