Smugglers clash with French riot police after launching migrant boats
The smugglers pelted officers with rocks and used engine oil to set fire to benches and debris in Gravelines in the early hours of Friday morning.
Britain and France have agreed to crack down on illegal Channel crossings, with French authorities trying to stop them from leaving their shores.
On Thursday, however, hundreds of migrants managed to evade French police and board dinghies bound for Britain.
The Telegraph witnessed dozens of officers armed with riot shields, assault rifles and helmets deployed on the streets of the seaside town, north-east of Calais, on Friday.
Volleys of tear gas from grenade launchers were fired at the smugglers during the short-lived confrontation, leaving the town wreathed in a veil of acrid white smoke.
Barricades were set up near the exit point of the River Aa which runs through the centre of the town and is used as a departure point for 'taxi boats' by the smugglers.
It is believed the smugglers assaulted the officers as a diversionary tactic to, unsuccessfully, try and secretly launch dinghies full with migrants to Dover.
Some of the smugglers, who were of Middle Eastern origin, jeered and mocked the officers while filming on their phones.
Two of the men were seen wearing bright orange life jackets around their necks.
The disorder broke out at around 5:30 am and lasted approximately 20 minutes before the smugglers were dispersed and fled back to their camps near Loon-Plage, a short 15-minute drive away to the east.
The clashes came after gendarmes failed to stop two dinghies crammed with approximately 70 migrants from sailing on Thursday morning from the shores of Gravelines beach to Dover.
A salvo of tear gas had done little to stop the crowd of around 200 migrants, including a family with a six-year-old son and four-year-old girl from trying to climb on.
On one of the dinghies, the smugglers had jumped overboard before the vessel was intercepted by a French police patrol boat and escorted into British waters.
The smugglers were allowed to walk back to their camps unhindered and try again the following day.
It is estimated that 320 migrants successfully arrived in the UK on Thursday via small boats.
Sir Keir Starmer, in a meeting with Friedrich Merz, the German chancellor, in London that same day said he was 'very concerned' over smuggling routes through Germany.
Sir Keir said the Government was determined to intervene at every stage of the people-smuggling journey, citing last week's agreement with France which allows the UK to return some migrants to France.
He said: 'For a long time I've been very concerned about the fact that engines and component parts of the boats that are being used are travelling through and being stored in Germany.
'But they can't be seized because the law didn't accommodate for a country that had left the EU and therefore needed to be amended.'
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Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Spanish minister sparks anti-Semitism row with France after labelling dozens of French Jewish children 'Israeli brats' after they were kicked off flight in Valencia for 'unruly behaviour'
A Spanish minister has sparked an anti-Semitism row with France after labelling dozens of French Jewish children ' Israeli brats' after they were expelled from a jet in Spain for 'unruly behaviour'. French government ministers Aurore Bergé and Benjamin Haddad have condemned Spain's transport minister Óscar Puente for his comments, as well as the actions of the Spanish police who handcuffed the group leader of the Jewish passengers. Some 44 French-Jewish students aged between 10 and 15 and several adults were escorted off Vueling flight V8166 as it waited on the tarmac at Valencia airport on July 23 ahead of its return to Paris. The holiday camp the children were flying with accused Vueling of 'brutality' and filed a complaint against the airline, who claimed the passengers had been endangering the safety of the flight with 'disruptive behaviour'. Spanish law enforcement and the airline carrier have come under fire for alleged anti-Semitism in the wake of the incident - accusations which they have both vehemently rejected. Footage shared to social media appeared to show one adult member of the group being detained by Spanish civil guard officers in the walkway shortly after she was removed from the jet. The passengers were members of the Kineret Club, a Jewish summer camp group, and were returning to France after a week-long excursion in Spain. The two French ministers, who have reportedly spoken to the female counsellor, said she had been signed off work for 15 days because of 'temporary incapacity'. 'No act justifies the disembarkation and the excessive and brutal use of force by the Guardia Civil against the young woman,' said Bergé and Haddad. Transport minister Puente has since deleted his post describing the children as 'Israeli brats', but the French politicians condemned his statement for 'equating French children who were Jewish with Israeli citizens, as if this in any way justified the treatment they were subjected to'. 'We will never accept the trivialisation of anti-Semitism,' Bergé and Haddad added. France's foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, contacted Vueling's chief executive, Carolina Martinoli, over the weekend to express his 'deep concern' at what had happened. A statement released by the club alleged that the captain of the flight ordered the removal of the group 'without a valid explanation', adding: 'The use of a few words in Hebrew was clearly enough to trigger an extremely serious, collective, humiliating, and discriminatory measure. 'No other circumstance could explain the treatment inflicted on this group of children.' The statement, signed by the club's lawyer Julie Jacob, went on to say it would launch a formal complaint and legal action, claiming that the passengers 'were seated, respecting the rules and the staff... they did not pose any disturbance to public order or flight safety'. This triggered an outcry in Israel, with Minister of Diaspora Amichai Chikli accusing Vueling and Spanish law enforcement of antisemitism, saying the kids were removed after 'singing Hebrew songs on the plane' and accusing Vueling staff of declaring Israel a 'terrorist state', without providing evidence. One of the minors on the flight told AFP: 'One of my friends shouted a word in Hebrew because he was still a bit in holiday-camp mood.' He added: 'Perhaps he said it too loudly.' A mother whose 17-year-old son was on the flight is said to have told AFP that the she 'could not see what could have justified' the incident and claimed the children 'were disembarked like dogs'. The club says it has now filed an official complaint against the airline. It also says it denies allegations by Vueling that 'incidents were caused by the minors' and has accused the company of 'brutality. A statement released by the club read: 'The facts are clear, serious, established and corroborated by multiple testimonies. They describe a scene of rare, unjustified, and clearly biased brutality: 44 children were removed from the aircraft, without a valid explanation, on the orders of the captain. 'These children, supervised by 7 adults, had just finished a cultural stay; they were seated in their seats, respecting the rules and the staff. No incident, no threat, no inappropriate behaviour was reported. 'On the contrary, several independent passengers on the plane wrote statements confirming that the children did not pose any threat to public order or flight safety. 'In this context, the attitude of the crew and the brutality of the intervention of the Spanish law enforcement, which led to the disembarkation without accompaniment, without care, without accommodation or food, arouse legitimate indignation.' In response to the backlash, a Vueling spokesperson said the passengers were removed after the minors repeatedly tampered with the plane's emergency equipment and interrupted the crew's safety demonstration. Vueling shared a lengthy statement rejecting allegations of anti-Semitism 'A group of passengers engaged in highly disruptive behaviour and adopted a very confrontational attitude, putting at risk the safe conduct of the flight. 'We categorically deny any suggestion that our crew's behaviour was related to the religion of the passengers involved.' 'This group mishandled emergency equipment and actively disrupted the mandatory safety demonstration, repeatedly ignoring instructions from cabin crew. 'Despite multiple warnings, this inappropriate behaviour persisted, which forced the crew to activate established security protocols,' the statement read, adding that Spain's civil guard took the decision to remove the passengers after being notified by the captain. 'We categorically deny any suggestion that our crew's decision related to the religion of the passengers involved. This decision was taken solely to ensure the safety of all passengers,' it said. The airline said it had taken witness statements as part of its internal inquiry into the incident, and went on to accuse the children of 'attempting to loosen life jackets, tampering with overhead oxygen masks and removing a high-pressure oxygen cylinder', thereby violating air safety laws. A lawyer for the summer camp group told French TV that some of the children on the jet wore a kippah, and that she had no other explanation for what transpired other than the fact that they were Jewish. But Vueling has categorically denied that the crew's behaviour was a response to the passengers' religion. Spain's Civil Guard confirmed all the passengers removed from the plane were French nationals. A Civil Guard spokesperson said the agents involved in the removal operation and the arrest of one member of the party were not aware of the group's religious affiliation. It also said that the group was expelled from the flight 'without care, escort, accommodation or food'. The Civil Guard said 23 minors and two adults from the group boarded a flight belonging to another airline, while the rest spent Wednesday night at a hotel. A spokesperson said arrangements were being made for them to leave Valencia later on Thursday. The Federation for Jewish Communities of Spain today expressed concern about the incident, calling on Vueling to provide documentary evidence of what happened on the plane. 'The various accounts circulating on social media and in the media to which we have had access do not clarify the cause of the incident,' the organisation said. 'We are particularly interested in clarifying whether there were any possible religiously discriminatory motives toward the minors.'
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Sunderland and Middlesbrough reflect on riots a year on
A year ago, riots - fuelled by misinformation and anti-immigration hate - broke out following the murders of three girls in Southport. One area affected was the north-east of England, where police have since recorded a significant rise in racial and religious hate crimes. With CCTV cameras and heavy-weight steel doors, the Masjid E Anwaar E Madinah mosque in Sunderland has changed a lot in the past 12 months."It should not feel like a prison," says Zaf Iqbal, the treasurer of the mosque, which also has bars across its he knows first hand why the extra security is was one of four men locked inside the building when violent mobs tried to attack last summer."It was traumatic," he says. "You don't expect to be attacked in your home city because of the colour of your skin." The riot erupted in August 2024 after three young girls were murdered at a dance class in was falsely claimed on social media that the killer had arrived in the UK on a dinghy in 2023. Others posted that he was a Muslim, and a fake name also a result, Southport Mosque was attacked in a night of extreme violence, before Islamic communities elsewhere were targeted."Why anybody was rioting in other towns away from Southport, it baffles me," says Mr Iqbal. A year on, "the tension in the community" has left some living in constant fear of a repeat of the disorder, he says."Sunderland's my home city. If I can't feel safe in my home city, where am I meant to feel safe?" he asks, visibly upset, before breaking down in tears."I was born and raised in this city, I work in this city, I work in the community in this city, and yet at times it doesn't feel like home, which is sad."With the political landscape at the minute, I think things are going to get worse."In recent weeks, a series of protests have taken place outside a hotel being used to house asylum seekers in Epping, Essex. It follows a man living there being charged with sexual assault, which he have separately charged 12 people so far in connection with disorder linked to the protests there. Hate crimes rise Freedom of Information data obtained by the BBC showed there were 2,757 race and religious hate crimes recorded by police forces in the North East between 1 August 2024 and 31 January 2025 - the six months following the Southport shows reports in the region rose by 34% compared to the same six-month period the previous year. The national increase between the same two time periods was less than 1%.The region's police forces also recorded 361 racial or religiously aggravated assaults in the six months following the Southport attacks, a 22% increase when comparing the same time period in the previous figures cover some of the region's disorder, which may reflect some of the increase. The recorded rise could be down to an increase in such hate crimes taking place, however a proportion could also be caused by more people reporting events can also "peak reports", according to Peter Hopkins, a professor in social geography at Newcastle University, who researches Islamophobia."We see whenever there is a terrorist incident or a major political event there is often a rise," he said, adding: "If there's any TV coverage of a terrorist, it doesn't matter what their religion is, we will see a reported rise in crimes against Muslims."Government data had previously showed the conflict between Israel and Gaza had also contributed to a rise in religious hate crimes. 'We live in a cycle of fear' Violence also broke out in Hartlepool, Darlington and Middlesbrough over several days, with an estimated 1,000 people taking part in an anti-immigration protest in Middlesbrough shared on social media showed some of the crowd smashing windows of homes and cars being set alight.A man was also seen on mobile phone footage blocking traffic and asking drivers "Are you white? Are you English?". He was jailed in November."Over the last five to 10 years racism has palpably grown" in Middlesbrough and the surrounding area, according to Amjid Khazir, the founder of anti-hate organisation Media Cultured."I have personally been racially abused," he Police, which covers Middlesbrough, saw the biggest increase of recorded race hate crimes in England and Wales in the six months following the Southport killings, with 918 incidents. That was up from 545 compared to the same period the previous year - a jump of 68%.Supt Emily Harrison, the force's lead on hate crime, said there had been "a clear spike" at the time of the disorder but the number of reports had then returned to levels consistent with the months said there was "no real trend towards an increase in racially motivated offences and crimes since last summer's events".The higher number of reports received compared to other local forces could be attributed to factors including effective community engagement and the "diverse" routes available for reporting hate crimes, she added. 'Be careful where you go' When a car drove into fans at a football parade celebrating Liverpool's Premier League title win in May, people were quick to speculate about the incident on social happened after the Southport attack, false rumours which started on social media claimed the man allegedly responsible was a left Middlesbrough's Islamic community "fearing" a backlash, Mr Khazir says. "Something happens hundreds of miles away and you're fearing for your family here in Middlesbrough," Mr Khazir says."You are on the phone to your family saying, 'Have you seen the news? Be careful where you go'."You're reiterating to them that this might be a time to stay at home."In an unprecedented move on the evening of the parade incident, Merseyside Police confirmed the person arrested was a white, British year, the force had been criticised for not releasing details earlier about Axel Rudakubana, the man later convicted of the three murders in Southport, when posts on social media were falsely suggesting he was an asylum seeker and potentially an Islamist extremist. The clarification this time about the man detained in Liverpool was welcomed by the Islamic community, who were anxious of "reprisals."Following last summer's disorder, Mr Khazir warns racism is "a trend that's not abating". "The riots brought to bear the challenges we face about social cohesion."He also blames certain politicians and figures for sharing "rage-bait" on social media."People are fearful to walk in certain parts of their own towns," he says."People are scared to go out when they see a news report about a potential extremist incident on the TV."You're in this cycle of constant fear." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
7 hours ago
- BBC News
Staffordshire people considering disorder urged to 'think again'
People considering getting involved in public disorder have been warned to "think again" as the one-year anniversary of the Staffordshire riots county's police, fire and crime commissioner Ben Adams made the plea following recent demonstrations outside a hotel housing asylum seekers in Epping, violent disorder in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, on 3 August 2024 saw anti-migrant protesters clash with counter-demonstrators, while the Holiday Inn Express in Tamworth was targeted by rioters a day unrest was sparked by misinformation spread about the identity of the man who stabbed three young girls to death in Southport. The Conservative commissioner told Staffordshire County Council's police, fire and crime panel: "If anybody thinks that is the way to make a point and stepping into violence is acceptable then please think again because it will be dealt with."He said police officers tied up in dealing with disorder meant they could not be "in our neighbourhoods, dealing with our roads or looking after our children"."There are cost implications as well as overtime and wellbeing," he told Monday's meeting. "I do hope for everybody's sake that people make their concerns known in a peaceful manner." Tamworth Borough Council's Labour leader Carol Dean said there was a difference "between free speech and incitement"."It is about people understanding what is crime - the quick reaction last year did centre people's thoughts on the fact they shouldn't be where they were and they shouldn't have been throwing those petrol bombs and sticks," she said, as well as the concerns over immigration, there were other issues "in the background" which contributed to people's strength of feeling, including the "low-wage economy".Dean added: "It does feel at the moment like everything's a tinder box and we all need to be very aware of it."Adams said he shared concerns about the disorder and described the violence in Tamworth as "some of the worst in the country".There had been "something in the order of" 100 charges brought since the disorder, he said, with about 60 people sentenced. This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations. Follow BBC Stoke & Staffordshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
