Latest news with #CompagniedeMarche
Times
2 days ago
- Politics
- Times
France wants more UK money to intercept small boats
France will demand more money from Britain to tackle small-boat crossings as police are due to start intercepting migrants in shallow water from next month. French authorities have until now resisted entering the Channel to stop dinghies leaving beaches for Britain, despite agreeing in February to change the law which prevented them from doing so. The French government is now prepared to change the rules but is expected to tell Britain it needs more money to deploy extra officers and drones to be able to continue policing the shores. French and British officials are currently at the start of negotiating a new deal on tackling Channel crossings. They believe it is key that part of the work is financed by Britain, and are expected to ask for more money in order to deploy more officers and equipment such as drones. In particular, officials are expected to push for extra funding for the Compagnie de Marche, a special policing unit with elite public order powers. The unit was inspired by policing during the Paris Olympics and is designed to tackle the increase in violence on French beaches. It is understood the French hope a deal can be signed in the coming months. A government source said the French may be 'pitch-rolling for more money' but that talks were in the early stages. The last agreement, signed in 2023 by Rishi Sunak, was due to expire next year. However, Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, agreed to extend it to 2027 on the condition France builds a long-promised detention centre. Britain has paid France £800 million since 2015 to curb small-boat crossings but the numbers of people arriving on Britain's shores has continued to rise. So far this year almost 15,000 people have arrived in the UK in small boats — up 42 per cent on this time last year and a 95 per cent rise from the same point in 2023. The 2023 agreement saw Britain pay France £480 million to stop the crossings, but not all of that has been spent. It is expected France will push for a similar amount if not more under any new deal. President Macron is drafting the new strategy to present to the UK during his forthcoming state visit to Britain in July. Some 1,195 migrants crossed the Channel in 19 small boats on Saturday TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL British officials had become increasingly frustrated at the pace of change and Cooper had pushed the French interior minister to act 'swiftly'. The home secretary said this week it was 'disgraceful' that 1,195 people crossed the Channel in 19 small boats on Saturday. French authorities rescued 184 people: however, current guidelines prevent officers from intervening offshore unless it is to rescue passengers in distress. It means officers can stop boats leaving the beach by puncturing them but may do nothing once they are in the water unless migrants call for help, which has led to footage of gendarmes looking on from the beach as people attempting to reach the UK ran into the water and climbed onboard small boats. John Healey, the defence secretary, previously said it was a 'really big problem' that the French authorities were unable to intervene to intercept the boats. However, it is hoped that the rule change will allow them to intercept so-called taxi boats, which are launched inland and then pick up migrants who have waded waist-deep into the water. French officials insist they are stopping migrants crossing the Channel and that French police are subject to dangerous confrontations with migrants who are determined to make the crossing. In one incident, police were covered in petrol and migrants threatened to set them alight. They believe there are pull factors which make Britain attractive for migrants, and pointed to global conflicts and climate change as reasons for increasing numbers.
Telegraph
30-03-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Yvette Cooper blames the weather for record number of small boat crossings
Britain's border security is dependent on the weather, the Home Secretary has admitted. Yvette Cooper said the record small boat crossings so far this year reflected the higher number of days than previous years when there was good weather. 'The really unacceptable situation that we're in is because of the way the criminal gangs have taken hold, our border security ends up being dependent on the weather. We cannot continue like this where the number of calm days affects the number of crossings,' she told the BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg show. A record 6,632 migrants have reached the UK this year, up from 4,600 at the same point in 2024. It has coincided with an increase in the number of 'red days' when the calm weather and sea conditions are conducive to crossings from 17 to 42 compared with the same period in 2024. Ms Cooper blamed the failure of the previous Conservative government for failing to stop the gangs getting a grip. 'We cannot carry on with border security being so dependent on the number of calm days that happen in the Channel. But the reason that is happening is because the criminal gangs still have a deep hold,' she said. Her comments come ahead of a two-day summit in London this week on organised immigration crime involving ministers, officials and law enforcement agencies from more than 40 countries. China, the source of many of the engines used in the small boats, and Turkey, where the dinghies are made in backstreet factories, along with source countries from Asia and Africa, are sending delegates to the first major international summit in the UK to tackle the emergency of illegal migration. 'This is a global criminal industry that is worth billions of pounds of exploitation, dangerous crimes that they are committing, and we need that international cooperation in order to bring those gangs down,' said Ms Cooper. She revealed that the French government's cabinet had now approved that its law enforcement officers can stop migrants' boats at sea for the first time, lifting a ban that has existed since the first dinghies crossed in 2018. Ms Cooper said the stop tactics in shallow waters would start later this year. They are expected to be led by an elite 70-strong police unit, known as the Compagnie de Marche, which was deployed during last summer's Paris Olympics to northern France and are credited with a 25 per cent reduction in attempted crossings. 'For many years, the previous government tried to persuade France to take action in French waters. That hasn't happened. The French government cabinet has changed the rules so they can now intervene in French waters to prevent these dangerous boat crossings. I think that's really important,' she said. Ms Cooper said the Government was also prepared to consider 'offshoring' schemes for processing migrants' asylum claims and accommodating failed asylum seekers in 'return hubs' in other countries. She said the UK had talked to Giorgia Meloni's government in Italy about its plans to process asylum seekers' claims in camps in Albania, with those rejected refused entry to Italy and those accepted granted the right to enter the country. 'I talked to the Italian interior minister about their arrangements that Italy and Albania have set up. We will always look at what works. So we've been very clear about that,' she said. 'But it has to be practical things that will work, not the gimmicks. What we saw was [the conservative government's] Rwanda scheme spend £700 million on sending four volunteers to Rwanda.' Removed to offshore hubs Ms Cooper also confirmed that she was talking to the European Commission about its proposals for 'return hubs' where failed asylum seekers could be sent to migrant centres in the western Balkans and other third-party countries. Any deal would require Britain to pay countries for each failed asylum seeker relocated under the scheme. It would mean rejected asylum seekers from countries deemed unsafe under UK law, such as Afghanistan, Iran and Somalia, could be removed to the offshore hubs. Rejected asylum seekers from countries deemed safe under UK law, such as Vietnam, Pakistan and India, could be temporarily detained in the hubs while arrangements were made to deport them to their home country. Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, said: 'The Home Secretary has her head stuck in the sand about the extent of the challenge on illegal immigration. 'Crossings are up 31 per cent since the election with 2025 the worst year on record. This is the clear impact of cancelling the deterrent and Labour's open-door policy to illegal migration, the crisis requires clear deliverable action. 'That is why, under new leadership, the Conservatives have set out tough plans to crack down on illegal migration, including plans to deport all foreign criminals and repeal the Human Rights Act for immigration matters. 'If Labour was serious about protecting Britain they would back these measures – but instead Labour voted against them.'
