France has issued 10 deportation orders against far-right British activists who had been involved in anti-migrant activities along the Channel coast.
The French Interior Ministry announced on Wednesday that 10 deportation orders had been served against British nationals involved in anti-migrant activities linked to the far-right ‘Raise the Colours’ movement.
These people are now banned from entering or staying in France due to their activities in France, which the ministry said included searching for and destroying small boats along the French coastline.
The Ministry did not give details on the individuals served with the notices, but in recent months several prominent far-right British activists have filmed themselves in France, taking part in activities including destroying small boats with the aim of preventing migrants from attempting to cross the Channel to the UK.
The French Interior ministry stated that: “The attention of the Ministry of the Interior’s services has been drawn on several occasions, and by various parties, to the presence of far-right activists belonging to the ‘Raise the Colours’ movement, who are involved, in particular, in searching for and destroying small boats and in propaganda activities on the French coast of the Nord and Pas-de-Calais.”
Interior Minister Laurent Nunez had referred the matter to local authorities in northern France, adding that “the actions being carried out were likely to cause serious disturbance to public order”.
The 10 deportation orders were served on Tuesday, January 13th – no detail was given about the length of the ban, but non-EU nationals can be banned from entering France indefinitely if their presence is judged to be a threat to public order.
Nunez, who was the Paris police chief before becoming Interior Minister, added that he “congratulates the Préfet of the Hauts-de-France region, Préfet of the Nord area, and the ministry’s departments for their effective and determined action to guarantee public order and prevent actions of a violent nature or that provoke hatred and discrimination.”
The ‘Raise the Colours’ group emerged in the UK in 2024 in the wake of violent anti-refugee riots. Over the past year many of the activists have posted videos to social media of themselves in northern France staging military-style ‘patrols’ of the coastline and destroying boats that they believe might be used by migrants.
Charities working in northern France have also reported harassment by British men linked to the movement.
The dangerous Channel crossings undertaken in small boats by migrants and refugees hoping to reach the UK has been a political flashpoint between the UK and French governments for several years.
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