Latest news with #Frenchpolice
The Independent
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Independent
French action ‘has prevented nearly 500 small boat crossings this year'
French authorities have stopped more than half of small boat crossings in the Channel this year, the Home Secretary has said. Yvette Cooper told MPs nearly 500 crossings had been 'prevented' by the French police, with 385 reaching British shores. Speaking in the Commons, Ms Cooper told MPs the Government had five tactics to address small boat crossings, including strengthening the border and clamping down on illegal working. Her statement came days after the Government secured a new agreement with France over returning migrants who had arrived on small boats. She said: 'French actions have prevented 496 boat crossings this year, but 385 boats have crossed. 'And criminal gangs are operating new tactics, increasing the overcrowding of boats so that more people arrive, and loading them in shallow waters, exploiting the French rules that means their authorities have not been able to intervene in the water.' It is unclear whether the figure refers to small boat crossings being stopped before or during attempts to leave the coastline, or by other means such as seizing boats from warehouses. The Home Secretary referred to 'appalling scenes' of people clambering onto crowded boats in shallow waters, and said French police had faced 'disgraceful violence' from gang members behind the crossings. She continued: 'We cannot stand for this. That is why the new action agreed with France includes establishing a new French Compagnie de Marche of specialist enforcement officers, with stronger public order powers to address increases in violence on French beaches and prevent boat launches before they reach the water.' Some 22,492 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel, according to latest Home Office figures. This is up 57% on this point last year (14,291) and 71% higher than at this stage in 2023 (13,144), according to PA news agency analysis. Last week's agreement saw a deal struck for a one in, one out system that would see a small boat migrant exchange for a legal asylum seeker. No details have been given about how many people will be covered by the scheme, but reports from France have indicated it could initially be limited to around 50 a week – a small fraction of the weekly average this year of 782. Priority will be given to people from countries where they are most likely to be granted asylum as genuine refugees, who are most likely to be exploited by smuggling gangs and also asylum seekers who have connections to the UK. The accord came at the end of a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the UK. Ms Cooper said: 'The new agreement reached at the summit last week means stronger partnership working with source and transit countries to prevent illegal migration.' Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp rubbished the idea that progress had been made on the issue, and said statistics showed small boat crossings had risen under Labour. Mr Philp said the 12 months since Labour's election last July had seen a 40% rise year-on-year in terms of crossings. He said: 'The Home Secretary comes here today sounding rather pleased with herself. I'm afraid she has no reason to. 'A year ago, she promised to smash the gangs, she said again and again that was her plan, indeed it was her only plan. Yet today, there is no mention of what was once her favourite catchphrase. 'That's because her claim to smash the gangs has become a joke, an embarrassment to her and to the Government.' He added that rather than closing asylum hotels, there were 3,000 more people in them than last year. 'She is setting records, just all the wrong ones,' he said. Ms Cooper replied: 'This crisis, the small boats chaos, went on for 340 weeks under the Tories, a period in which when he was immigration minister, overall migration near trebled and small boat crossings increased tenfold when he was the immigration minister in charge.' She later said the Government's plan would involve greater co-operation with other governments, rather than 'standing at the shoreline shouting at the sea'. Ms Cooper said: 'We will best strengthen our border security by working with countries on the other side of those borders who face exactly the same challenges far better than just standing at the shoreline shouting at the sea.' Conservative former minister Andrew Murrison asked the Home Secretary to respond to the idea that the UK was 'perceived as being attractive to illegal migrants'. She replied: 'I do think frankly it has been too easy to work illegally in this country for too long, and we know that one of the things that the criminal gangs say to people is, 'it will be easy to get a job'. 'They will even give people discounts if they can come and work for those same criminal gangs operating in the UK.'
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
French action ‘has prevented nearly 500 small boat crossings this year'
French authorities have stopped more than half of small boat crossings in the Channel this year, the Home Secretary has said. Yvette Cooper told MPs nearly 500 crossings had been 'prevented' by the French police, with 385 reaching British shores. Speaking in the Commons, Ms Cooper told MPs the Government had five tactics to address small boat crossings, including strengthening the border and clamping down on illegal working. Her statement came days after the Government secured a new agreement with France over returning migrants who had arrived on small boats. She said: 'French actions have prevented 496 boat crossings this year, but 385 boats have crossed. 'And criminal gangs are operating new tactics, increasing the overcrowding of boats so that more people arrive, and loading them in shallow waters, exploiting the French rules that means their authorities have not been able to intervene in the water.' It is unclear whether the figure refers to small boat crossings being stopped before or during attempts to leave the coastline, or by other means such as seizing boats from warehouses. The Home Secretary referred to 'appalling scenes' of people clambering onto crowded boats in shallow waters, and said French police had faced 'disgraceful violence' from gang members behind the crossings. She continued: 'We cannot stand for this. That is why the new action agreed with France includes establishing a new French Compagnie de Marche of specialist enforcement officers, with stronger public order powers to address increases in violence on French beaches and prevent boat launches before they reach the water.' Some 22,492 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel, according to latest Home Office figures. This is up 57% on this point last year (14,291) and 71% higher than at this stage in 2023 (13,144), according to PA news agency analysis. Last week's agreement saw a deal struck for a one in, one out system that would see a small boat migrant exchange for a legal asylum seeker. No details have been given about how many people will be covered by the scheme, but reports from France have indicated it could initially be limited to around 50 a week – a small fraction of the weekly average this year of 782. Priority will be given to people from countries where they are most likely to be granted asylum as genuine refugees, who are most likely to be exploited by smuggling gangs and also asylum seekers who have connections to the UK. The accord came at the end of a state visit by French President Emmanuel Macron to the UK. Ms Cooper said: 'The new agreement reached at the summit last week means stronger partnership working with source and transit countries to prevent illegal migration.' Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp rubbished the idea that progress had been made on the issue, and said statistics showed small boat crossings had risen under Labour. Mr Philp said the 12 months since Labour's election last July had seen a 40% rise year-on-year in terms of crossings. He said: 'The Home Secretary comes here today sounding rather pleased with herself. I'm afraid she has no reason to. 'A year ago, she promised to smash the gangs, she said again and again that was her plan, indeed it was her only plan. Yet today, there is no mention of what was once her favourite catchphrase. 'That's because her claim to smash the gangs has become a joke, an embarrassment to her and to the Government.' He added that rather than closing asylum hotels, there were 3,000 more people in them than last year. 'She is setting records, just all the wrong ones,' he said. Ms Cooper replied: 'This crisis, the small boats chaos, went on for 340 weeks under the Tories, a period in which when he was immigration minister, overall migration near trebled and small boat crossings increased tenfold when he was the immigration minister in charge.' She later said the Government's plan would involve greater co-operation with other governments, rather than 'standing at the shoreline shouting at the sea'. Ms Cooper said: 'We will best strengthen our border security by working with countries on the other side of those borders who face exactly the same challenges far better than just standing at the shoreline shouting at the sea.' Conservative former minister Andrew Murrison asked the Home Secretary to respond to the idea that the UK was 'perceived as being attractive to illegal migrants'. She replied: 'I do think frankly it has been too easy to work illegally in this country for too long, and we know that one of the things that the criminal gangs say to people is, 'it will be easy to get a job'. 'They will even give people discounts if they can come and work for those same criminal gangs operating in the UK.'
Telegraph
3 days ago
- Politics
- Telegraph
French police to get power to arrest migrants who enter country illegally
French police are to get powers to arrest migrants who enter the country illegally as part of Emmanuel Macron's promised crackdown on Channel small boat crossings. Bruno Retailleau, the interior minister, is proposing to reintroduce an offence that would allow French courts to prosecute migrants for 'illegal stays' in France. The offence was abolished in 2012 by Francois Hollande, president at the time, under pressure from the EU amid concerns that convicting migrants in France would delay their removal and return to their home countries. However, Mr Retailleau sees the measure as vital in not only creating a new deterrent but also enabling police to seize the mobile phones of migrants to help identify people smugglers, arrest and prosecute them. The French have faced heavy criticism from British politicians for simply releasing migrants after intercepting their boats, enabling them to make repeated attempts to cross the Channel until they are successful. Under current French law, police cannot arrest and detain migrants simply for illegally entering the country but need evidence that they have committed a separate criminal offence, such as people smuggling. The French are preparing to adopt a new maritime doctrine where they will intercept migrant boats at sea for the first time, provided they are within 300 metres of the shore. Officers have already tested the tactic where they used knives to slash the rubber tubes of a dinghy in shallow waters. They have also used jet skis to deploy underwater nets to snag the propellers of the small boats' outboard motors. The moves come in tandem to the agreement, announced last Thursday by Sir Keir Starmer and President Macron for a trial of a 'one in, one out' scheme where Britain sends Channel migrants back to France in return for taking a similar number of asylum seekers from France. Mr Retailleau pushed for the new law on illegal stays at a meeting of EU home affairs ministers in Luxembourg in June where they discussed upcoming returns rules. A French interior ministry source said: 'Where I think there will be quite a lot of agreement is on criminalising illegal residence. It is a matter of principle. When someone breaks into your home, it is a crime. When someone breaks into a country, it should be a crime. 'But it goes beyond symbolism. It's simply a matter of investigation: we need to be able to search mobile phones. Why? Because when we look at mobile phones we find images that reveal links, for example with terrorism. This has happened to us several times in France. 'Above all, it allows us to trace, through images and a certain amount of data, the trajectory of illegal immigrants, their country of origin, their country of residence and their country of transit. So for us, the issue of illegal residence is not just a matter of principle or symbolism. 'It will enable us to investigate more effectively in the future. That is why we are also asking for the search of mobile phones to be made possible if we want to be much more effective.' Meanwhile, there have been 2,378 arrivals in the first 12 days of July compared with 1,711 in 2023, according to analysis of Border Force figures by The Telegraph. Extrapolating that daily rate for the rest of July gives a total monthly figure of 6,143, which would be the highest on record. It is thought people smugglers are offering migrants 'summer deals' of up to 50 per cent off, and targeting Eritreans and Albanians on social media. More than 22,500 migrants have reached the UK in small boats so far in 2025, up 50 per cent on the same period in 2024 and the highest number in the first six months since the first dinghies arrived in 2018. The French approach mirrors new legislation by Yvette Cooper, the Home Secretary, whose borders Bill gives immigration officers and police new powers to seize illegal migrants' mobile phones or other electronic devices before any arrest if they suspect they contain information about organised immigration crime. It is part of a suite of counter-terror-style measures to combat the people-smuggling gangs, including new offences of possession of equipment that could be used to facilitate small boat crossings or collecting information that could help the gangs.
Wall Street Journal
6 days ago
- Politics
- Wall Street Journal
U.K. and France Strike Deal Over Migrant Boats Crossing Channel
LONDON—The U.K. and France struck a deal on Thursday to try to slow a record number of migrants crossing the English Channel in flimsy boats, as anti-immigrant populists in both countries lead in the polls. As part of the deal, the U.K. would return migrants to France in exchange for accepting an equal number already in France that have a stronger connection to the U.K. French police would also get more powers to stop the migrants as they set out from the shore.
BBC News
04-07-2025
- BBC News
French police slash inflatable migrant boat heading to UK
Amid chaotic scenes, French police waded into shallow waters off a beach south of Boulogne early on Friday morning and used knives to slash an inflatable small boat - packed with men, women and children - that was wallowing, dangerously, in the those onboard clambered to safety as the boat intervention was highly unusual. French police usually follow strict rules that bar them from going into the sea in case they put lives at risk."Let's go in," said one of the gendarmes, pulling off his body armour, and taking out a small knife. His colleagues took their heavy armour off, too, placing equipment in the back of a nearby police car before rushing into the is possible to see this rare incident as evidence that the French police - under growing pressure to stop a surge of small boat migrant crossings to the UK - are changing their tactics. But well-placed sources in France have told us that the procedural changes now being considered will almost certainly focus on the use of patrol boats at sea to intercept the "taxi-boats" before they're fully loaded, rather than on approving more aggressive interventions from police on the beaches. A few metres offshore, the boat itself was clearly in trouble. People were crowded around the outboard motor, which had briefly stalled but was being restarted. Waves were breaking underneath the boat, causing it to lurch wildly, and there were loud screams from several children who were in danger of being crushed two large groups of people already wearing orange life jackets had emerged from the nearby dunes and rushed towards the sea. In all there were probably 80 or 100 people. But when the first "taxi-boat" - used by the smuggling gangs to collect passengers from various points along the French coast - sped past perhaps 100m from the shore, it was clearly full already and did not stop to pick anyone else up.A few minutes later, a second boat, with almost no passengers, came towards the shore, watched by a French coastguard boat further into the English Channel. Initially, people were ushered forwards in organised groups, holding hands, and directed by one man who appeared to be leading events. But as the inflatable boat turned and reversed towards the shore, there was a scrum as dozens of people scrambled to climb aboard in water that was at least waist first the gendarmes declined to intervene and stood watching from the shore. One officer repeated a now-familiar explanation to me - that they were barred from going into the water except to rescue people. But as the situation became increasingly chaotic, the officers at the scene clearly felt that a line had been crossed, that those on board were now in danger, and that there was a brief opportunity to disable the boat in relative safety and while any smugglers - who might have fought back - were distracted by their attempts to restart the a policeman slashed repeatedly at the rubber, there were cries and shouts of anger and frustration from some of those onboard. A young girl, who had been in the middle of the scrum, squashed at the stern of the boat close to the engine, was plucked to safety as others scrambled on to the nearby later the boat was dragged ashore by the police as the migrants began collecting items they had dropped on the beach and then headed inland, up the sandy paths through the dunes towards the nearest village and a bus-ride back to the migrant camps further north.
