Last year, over 108,000 people applied for asylum in the UK. Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron is planning to lift a ban that stops police from intercepting migrant boats at sea. This new law would allow officers to act against boats carrying migrants in shallow waters.
French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau is pushing for legal changes to let police use their own boats to confront smugglers who transport migrants to the UK in overcrowded vessels. During a meeting with UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper, Retailleau discussed ways to strengthen enforcement against small boats, according to *The Telegraph*.
Currently, French law prevents police from taking action against migrant boats once they’re in the water, limiting officers to rescue operations only. To avoid capture, smugglers have started using “taxi boats” that stay in the water to pick up migrants from beaches in Northern France without coming ashore.
This tactic became popular after French and UK authorities blocked rivers leading to the English Channel with floating barriers to stop small boats from reaching the sea. Officials in both countries worry that the number of crossings will rise as the weather improves.
Retailleau emphasized the need to intercept boats within 300 meters of the coast, using the French naval service and gendarmerie to act in shallow waters. He spoke during a visit to Le Toquet, a town that has seen many migrant crossings in recent years. This was the first visit by a UK Home Secretary to northern France since 2020.
Macron’s government is facing pressure from Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party, which has strong support in northern France. Cooper highlighted the dangers of smuggling gangs, calling their actions “appalling and dangerous,” and stressed the need for cross-border law enforcement to tackle the issue.
Recent figures show that over 108,000 people applied for asylum in the UK last year, the highest number since records began in 2001. Migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats made up 32% of that total in 2024.
Additionally, France is under pressure to end a long-standing agreement with Algeria that makes it easier for Algerian citizens to move to France unless Algeria agrees to take back those deported by French authorities. Tensions between the two countries have worsened after an Algerian citizen, whom France had tried to deport, carried out a knife attack in Mulhouse, killing one person and injuring three.
