"The practice of small boat crossings must end. Apart from other reasons, it is imperative to prevent further loss of life," chair Ross Cranston said at the closing hearing of the independent inquiry which began in 2024.

"For their families and friends, this is, above all, an immeasurable human tragedy," added Cranston.

Since the deadly sinking, the number of small boat crossings from France to Britain have increased, with over 41,000 people making the perilous journey in 2025.

According to the report, "some" of the 27 deaths could have been prevented if UK and French authorities had acted sooner to rescue the wouldbe migrants.

Some 33 people, mainly Iraqi Kurds, were crammed into the inflatable dinghy in the early hours of November 24, 2021 when it started sinking.

Despite several distress calls, the boat was found by a French fishing vessel nearly 12 hours after the first pleas for help were made.

By that time, most of the people on board, including seven women and two children, had drowned.

Four people are believed to remain "missing".

One of the two survivors, Somali migrant Issa Mohamed Omar told the inquiry last year the passengers were "left in the water" and he felt like they were "treated like animals".

The failures of the UK coastguard response were "systemic" according to the inquiry -- which cannot determine criminal liability, and was commissioned by the government to make recommendations.

One of the issues was "the belief which had developed among HM Coastguard personnel that callers from small boats regularly exaggerated their level of distress," the inquiry report stated.

It found that the coastguard was put in an "intolerable position" due to "chronic staff shortages", and also highlighted the "limited and late information provided by the French authorities."

According to Cranston, "many more and possibly all lives" could have also been saved if a nearby French vessel had responded to a mayday call.

Successive UK governments have tried to clamp down on the politically contentious crossings since 2020.

But the efforts have largely failed to stem the flow, with the number of crossings in 2025 the second-highest on record, since nearly 46,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats in 2022.