UK Taxpayers Could End Up Funding French Patrols on Migrant Boats
The UK may be required to help subsidise a brand new French “maritime intervention force” designed to usher small migrant boats away from England.
The blueprint of the plan involves fast patrol boats surrounding migrant dinghies crowded with passengers before “guiding them back to French ports in the safest manner possible,” an emergency services source in Calais explained.
However, Home Office sources insisted the proposal had ‘never been brought up in our conversations with the French’ and dismissed claims that Britain would be handed a new bill.
This follows opposition from French naval officers and police to proposals allowing them to intercept small boats in open waters.
Right now, French authorities are legally barred from approaching boats or making arrests once they are at sea because of various safety concerns.
Reports suggest that France’s Interior Minister, Bruno Retailleau, believes deploying specialist vessels and dedicated officers could provide a solution.
Sources say the expense of the boats could be added to the nearly £500 million the UK pledged to France in 2023, aimed at curbing small-boat crossings in the Channel.
A source stated, ‘Low-sitting rigid boats would be used. At least three could get right alongside the dinghies and guide them in the water without causing them to capsize.
‘Anybody who did fall into the water would be immediately rescued by the officers in the new intervention squad.’
The French investigative outlet Le Canard Enchaîné (The Chained Duck), which uncovered the plan, reported that ‘It’s going to cost the British an arm and a leg again.’
French police unions have condemned the notion of transforming officers into a “sea police” force. A senior Alliance union source stated, ‘People don’t seem to realise how dangerous it is to try to carry out arrests at sea while attempting to force a boat to change course.
‘If there are 80 people on an overcrowded boat, then it is extremely dangerous to try to stop them.’
A senior French navy officer added, ‘Disaster, including drownings, can easily happen.’
Over 28,000 migrants have made the journey to cross the Channel so far this year.
