French police ‘will never stop us', say Channel migrants

Telegraph

3 hours ago

Channel migrants have vowed that they will 'never give up' on trying to reach Britain despite a looming French crackdown on illegal crossings.
French ministers are set to change maritime rules to allow border police, gendarmes and coastguard vessels to stop boats from leaving waters within 300 metres of their coastline.
The new strategy will see 'taxi boats' packed with migrants intercepted in shallow waters off Channel beaches. It will probably mean that migrants trying to clamber aboard are pushed back onto dry land by officers armed with shields and batons.
However, migrants told The Telegraph that they would 'never give up' trying to reach the UK on small boats.
Young men, teenagers and families with small children said they would try to find a way through to Britain, whatever new methods were adopted by the French.
Waiting at a makeshift migrant camp on the edge of Loon-Plage, near the port of Dunkirk, was Jamal, a 24-year-old Sudanese man. He had made the two-month journey from North Africa to northern France by any method he could, including boat and horseback.
'If the police stop us in the water when we try to reach the boats, then we will go back to the beach the next day or the next week,' he said. 'We'll never give up.'
Ali, a 27-year-old nursing assistant from Afghanistan, had a similar message for the French and British governments.
'Me and my friends are seeking asylum. As Azeris, we cannot express our ethnic identity in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over. It is terrible,' he said.
'That is why I hope the British will give us asylum. That's why we travelled here from Afghanistan.
'I agree people shouldn't be able to cross illegally – only refugees who really need asylum should be protected.'
Ali and Jamal, along with their fellow migrants at the Grand-Synthe camp, have faced a heavier than normal police presence on the beach at nearby Gravelines.
The beach, which is more than 1,000 yards long, has been a favourite pick-up point for people-smugglers operating 'taxi boats' over the past week.
But early morning, patrols of the sands and surrounding dunes by French riot police ensured that no migrant boats left Gravelines on Friday.
From before dawn, foot patrols with powerful torches swept the dunes for migrants who might be hidden. As the sun rose, officers patrolled the surrounding paths and roads leading to the beach through holiday homes and children's playgrounds.
Detritus left behind by migrants who had recently managed to board boats could be seen piled high on the edge of the beach – trainers, bags, clothes and some identity documents. There was even a crutch left behind by one migrant who was seen earlier in the week using his remaining crutch to clamber into a boat with the help of fellow passengers.
There are signs at Gravelines and elsewhere that French police are taking a more interventionist approach in the migrant crisis, in response to criticism by the British Government.
In the past week, migrants emerging from the dunes have been sprayed with tear gas.
All vehicles approaching Gravelines beach were searched by early morning police patrols on Thursday, with officers checking for any signs of hidden migrants or inflatable boats.
Police are also using drones and light aircraft to spot boats along a 75-mile stretch of coastline.
At one stage, a patrol van could be seen parked next to a memorial honouring the sacrifice of French and British marines who took part in repeated attempts to reconnoitre German coastal defences in the run up to D-Day – an echo of previous Anglo-French co-operation.
But migrant aid charities have warned that the French and British governments will have 'blood on their hands' if police adopt new tactics of intercepting migrants in the waters off the coast.
In the past seven days, 2,066 people have crossed the Channel using 33 small boats, with traffickers taking advantage of good weather to make the crossing. Last Friday alone, 919 made the crossing using 14 boats. That was followed by 489 on Tuesday and 244 on Wednesday.
On Thursday morning, six French coastguard vessels took part in the rescue of a small group of migrants whose overladen dinghy had run into difficulties mid-way across the Channel.
The dinghy had set off unnoticed from a beach close to the port of Calais. The people on board were handed over to the British authorities after being plucked from their boat.
A Home Office spokesman said: 'We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security.
'The people-smuggling gangs do not care if the vulnerable people they exploit live or die, as long as they pay, and we will stop at nothing to dismantle their business models and bring them to justice.'