French Police Take Controversial Step, Damaging Migrant Boats Mid-Crossing

French police, for the first time ever, have punctured migrant boats in the Channel. This move comes as part of a shift in enforcement strategy, an approach fully supported by Yvette Cooper from Home Security.

Dozens of migrants, women and children included, were forced to abandon their attempt at reaching the UK after their boat began to lose air and sink.

The use of knives by the French police is believed to be part of initial trials by French authorities. The idea was to try to determine the most effective way to prevent migrants from leaving.

Ms Cooper described the controversial move as “different” and even “welcome”. She noted that the move was part of a bigger plan for French border police and gendarmes to begin intervening in shallow waters up to 300 metres from the shore. This strategy would hopefully stop migrant boats from being able to set off.

This new strategy is expected to be revealed during next week’s Anglo-French summit. This also coincides with Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visit to the UK.

In the past, French police had used knives to disable boats on beaches before they were able to set off, but human smugglers adapted and started launching dinghies from nearby rivers and canals.

Earning the nickname “taxi boats”, they were able to travel along the coast to pick up migrants waiting in shallow waters. This way avoided the beaches completely. The French police response was an attempt to block river access by using a chain of buoys. This particular tactic is expected to be expanded.

The new tactic comes after a record number of migrants reached the UK this year. (20,422 approximately.) This makes a 50% increase when compared to last year and the highest number for the first six months of the year of any year since Channel crossings began in 2018.

Around 5,170 people arrived just last month.

Ms Cooper has been a part of conversations with French officials about improving border sea patrol efforts, including efforts to intercept people smugglers taxi boats. The idea is to not only stop them in shallow waters and near beaches but also as they travel from rivers and inland waterways.

“I’ve been talking to the French interior minister about the importance of action in French waters. That’s what we need in order to prevent boat crossings,” she said. 

“We’ve seen criminal gangs this year really exploiting the fact that the French rules for too long have meant that they could not intervene in French waters. The French interior minister has been determined to change those rules. He has been working to do that. I’ve been working very closely with him on it.

“We do think that there’s a wider range of interventions that can be used. Our small boat’s operational command has been working closely with the French authorities on what those options might be. 

“That work is still under way, but both of us, as interior ministers, are pressing for this to happen as swiftly as possible and as extensively as possible.”

Downing Street also praised the tougher French tactics, suggesting they reflect Sir Keir Starmer’s attempt to “reset” relations with the EU.

A No 10 spokesman said, “No government has been able to get this level of co-operation with the French. That is important. We are looking to see France change its maritime tactics, and that is down to the Prime Minister’s efforts to reset our relationships across Europe.”

The spokesman stated that the new tactic, combined with other measures, could significantly disrupt the methods used by gangs.

Frustration has been mounting over what is seen as France’s slow response. They’ve intercepted less than 40 per cent of boats this year, the lowest rate on record. This comes despite a three-year, £480 million agreement with the Anglo-French aimed at tackling the migrant crossings.

Up until recently, France declined to intervene in the water. They cited maritime laws that prohibit actions that could potentially endanger lives at sea. However, French ministers have now authorised these types of interventions as long as they comply with the “law of the sea”.

Ms Cooper stated that every migrant who came on a small boat that had a child pass away should face the legal consequences of such action.

Labour’s new Borders Bill, currently under consideration in Parliament, proposes a new offence whereby any migrant who refuses rescue offers at sea anywhere in the Channel, or who uses physical aggression, intimidation, or coercive behaviour to overload boats, could face prosecution and up to five years in prison.

Ms Cooper told the BBC that the rise in boat overcrowding was one factor contributing to the increase in arrivals this year.

Earlier on LBC, the Home Secretary declined three times to guarantee that migrant crossings in the Channel would be lower by this time next year, stating only that she hoped it would be so and that the government was implementing measures aimed at reducing the numbers.