French
police fire tear gas and pepper spray at migrants seeking to board 'small
boats' heading to UK
The new
tactics come after officers were criticised for standing by and watching
overcrowded, unseaworthy vessels set off across the Channel
Nicholas Cecil, Political Editor @nicholascecil
23 hours ago
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French police have used tear gas and pepper spray to try to
disperse hundreds of people seeking to board migrant boats to reach Britain.
French officers have long been criticised for standing by
and not doing enough to prevent often unseaworthy vessels from departing French
shores.
However, the French force was reported to have been
overwhelmed by the number of people seeking to clamber onto boats as they
sought to reach the UK, and at least one boat reportedly set off for Britain.
The apparent new tactics, though, seem to be a change in
approach from earlier this week.
Only days ago, a group of around ten French police, equipped
with riot helmets and shields, watched as asylum seekers and economic migrants
sought to climb onto boats set to head for the UK.
When asked by Sky News why they did not intervene, one
officer said: “It’s for their safety. There are children there. We’re not going
to throw grenades at them. It’s inhumane. But it’s sad.”
Around two thirds of people who cross the Channel in “small
boats” are granted asylum, according to one study.
More than 200 people have died since 2018 trying to reach
the UK in often overcrowded, inflatable vessels, according to the International
Organization for Migration.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has urged the French
authorities to do more to stop migrant boats leaving their shore and now firmer
action seems to have been adopted.
"The French interior minister and the French cabinet
have now agreed their rules need to change,” she stressed earlier this month.
As it seeks to deal with illegal immigration, the UK has
provided tens of millions in funding for France to strengthen its border
operations to deter human trafficking across the Channel.
French interior minister Bruno Retailleau said earlier this
year that he wanted to give the gendarmerie new powers so they could intercept
boats within 300 metres of the coast.
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