France to step up migrant boat efforts

The issue of small boats full of migrants crossing the English Channel, which has resulted in numerous deaths and become one of the most contentious issues in British politics in the last few years, may be about to change, after reports in France suggested its police had agreed to start intercepting boats.

French security forces will be allowed to stop the small boats at sea, but only before they've picked up their passengers, the maritime police force has confirmed to the BBC.

Crossings, often in dangerously overcrowded boats organized by criminal gangs, have become a growing problem in the aftermath of the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union in 2020, the terms of which left the country without any facility to return people to Europe.

Figures from the British Home Office show that from the start of the year up until November 27, there had been 39,292 small boat arrivals this year, a rise of 17 percent on the same period in 2024.

Data published by the London School of Economics in September 2025 says the boats only account for less than two percent of the country's total migrant inflow, but their unpredictable and irregular nature have led to people turning up en masse and needing accommodation at short notice.

This has made migration politically volatile, and has provoked widespread anger in many areas where the asylum seekers have been housed, while the processing system, which currently has huge backlogs, deals with their claims to stay.

Previously, French police rarely got involved in efforts to stop the boats launching into the Channel, the world's busiest shipping lane, citing their own safety and that of the people on the boats, but it is now understood that they will stop boats in the water before they pick up passengers.

French newspaper Le Monde quoted a letter sent by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer to French President Emmanuel Macron saying "It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month... We have no effective deterrent in the Channel".

According to the United Nations, at least 84 people died attempting the crossing in 2024, and the Guardian newspaper reported that up until August 15 this year, there had been a further 24 deaths.

Former French interior minister Bruno Retailleau had shown willingness to be more proactive after Starmer and Macron had a summit meeting in July, but there was no action to follow that up, until the latest suggestion that policy might change. However, seasonal weather conditions have a significant impact on the numbers attempting the crossing, which rise in the summer, and those same conditions also make it hard for interception efforts to be deployed at the moment.

It is unclear precisely how the boats will be stopped, but the use of nets to intercept them, which had previously been suggested, has been ruled out.