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French police have used knives to puncture migrant dinghies in the water for the first time as they gear up to implement law changes.
There were chaotic scenes on French beaches on Friday morning as officers charged into the sea with knives to slash a rigid inflatable boat, which migrants were scrambling to board.
It is a “precursor” to a change of maritime law that will allow officers from the specialist Compagnie de Marche policing unit to enter shallow waters to intercept and prevent migrant boats from making the Channel crossing, The Times has been told.
“They are gearing up to the change,” a source familiar with the tactics said.
The unit, which has special public order powers and is trained in dealing with unrest in France, is finalising the guidance over how the new law will be implemented so it is most effective in preventing the crossings.
President Macron and Bruno Retailleau, the interior minister, are expected to present the tactics at next week’s UK-France summit before they are put into practice later this month. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, welcomed news of the French intervention, which was first reported by the BBC. A record number of migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year with the UK blaming overcrowded vessels for the surge TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER JACK HILL She told Radio 4’s Today programme: “That is a different strategy, and it is welcome that [French police are] taking action in the shallow waters, but we want broader action. This is something that will take time to implement, but it is on its way going through the French system at the moment. “I want to see this happen as urgently as possible and I think the French interior minister does as well.” A record 20,600 migrants have arrived to the UK on small boats so far this year, a 51 per cent increase on numbers at the same time last year. Previously, French forces used knives to deflate the inflatable sides of the dinghies but only while they were still on the beaches. June 21 in Calais ABDUL SABOOR/REUTERS However, smugglers changed their tactics by launching “taxi boats” — a method which meant vessels no longer touched the shore. The dinghies would be driven along France’s inland waterways before cruising along the coast to pick up migrants, who were told to wade into the waters in order to board the boat. Cooper added that she wanted every migrant who arrives on a small boat where someone has died to face prosecution. • Labour’s first year: is Keir Starmer keeping his promises? Migrants who refuse French rescue attempts in the Channel will face up to five years in jail under new laws being introduced by the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill going through parliament. The home secretary said an increase in overcrowded boats was part of the reason arrivals had risen this year. On Thursday 178 migrants crossed in three boats — an average of 59 per vessel. Cooper said: “I think it’s just totally appalling that you see boats where children are being crushed to death, yet the boat still continues to the UK. So we want to strengthen the law to have endangerment of life at sea be part of our laws, so we can prosecute. “Frankly … everybody who is arriving on a boat where a child’s life has been lost should be facing prosecution, either in the UK or in France.” She added: “If you get onto a boat which is so crowded that a child is crushed to death in the middle of that boat, and if you then refuse rescue from the French authorities who come to the rescue, I think, frankly, you should face some responsibility and accountability for that.”
