Plans for French police to intercept migrant boats at sea for the first time are in jeopardy due to the potential collapse of France’s government.
The French cabinet agreed in June to change the way in which maritime law is interpreted to enable border police, gendarmes and coastguard vessels to intercept migrant boats within 300 metres of the coast.
British government officials had hailed the move as a “gamechanger” in their efforts to combat small-boat crossings, which have reached a record high of 28,947 so far this year, more than 50 per cent higher than this time last year.
The French interior ministry had said it would implement the law change “this summer”.
But in a blow to Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts to get a grip on the small-boats crisis, the reinterpretation of French maritime law could be at risk from a looming confidence vote, which the French government looks set to lose.
The threat to the French policy came as:
• Nigel Farage unveiled plans to deport 600,000 illegal migrants within the first five years of a Reform UK government, including women and children.
• The Court of Appeal will on Thursday hear a legal challenge from the Home Office to reverse the High Court’s ruling last week to stop using the Bell Hotel in Epping to house asylum seekers.
• A court heard that an Ethiopian asylum seeker accused of sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl invited her back to a migrant hotel in Essex to “make babies and have sex”.
• The prime minister issued a staunch defence of the European Convention on Human Rights and ruled out leaving it, but opened the door to emulating Reform’s policy of striking migrant returns deals with Afghanistan and Eritrea.
• Reports that the Taliban were willing to work with Reform to strike a returns deal to those countries were denied by Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesman. A Reform source also said the party had not had any contact from the Taliban.
The ability to intercept migrant boats in the Channel is viewed as crucial to tackling crossings because of tactics pursued by the people smugglers, who launch “taxi boat” dinghies from secluded beaches or inland waterways and pilot them to other beaches. There, the smugglers can pick up large groups of migrants from chest-deep water and jump back ashore amid the confusion.
French law currently prohibits police from tackling a migrant boat once it has entered the water unless it has requested rescue. This has left French police to try to stop boats before they enter the water, but the rate of interventions has fallen slightly to 43 per cent this year.
The interception of small boats at sea had been delayed by French government lawyers, who raised concerns about its legality under international maritime conventions regards the interception of vessels at sea for purposes other than rescue.
Now the plans have suffered a further setback after François Bayrou, the French prime minister, announced on Monday that a vote of confidence will be held on September 8, which the government looks set to lose after discontent from members of the opposition over its budget plans.
A defeat would plunge the country into a fresh political crisis, as President Macron will be forced to find a new prime minister to form another government. In the meantime, the current government would remain in office as a caretaker administration empowered only to deal with routine matters.
French police watch migrants who failed to board a smuggler’s boat off the beach at Gravelines in France
SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
Allowing police to intercept migrant boats within 300 metres of the coast is unlikely to be a priority for any new government. Its prime concern would be getting an austerity budget passed to cut France’s crippling debt and deficit. French government sources said the maritime law change is unlikely to go through soon and would be low down the list of priorities for any new government.
A UK government source said: “The political situation in France is difficult. We still hope they will operationalise it but it has become more difficult due to these developments.”
The Home Office said it had been assured by the French interior ministry in the past 24 hours that the change in interpretation of maritime would go ahead as planned.
But the delay threatens to deliver another blow to Starmer’s hopes of tackling the small-boats crisis, which has taken on fresh urgency after last week’s High Court ruling forcing ministers to relocate up to 138 male asylum seekers from the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex, within a matter of days.
French police patrol the beach to prevent migrants from boarding a smuggler’s boat
AMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
On Thursday the Court of Appeal will hear a legal challenge by the Home Office to reverse the decision.
The one in, one out migrant returns deal that was signed with France last month is not believed to be affected by the instability in Paris because Macron and his team has had direct involvement in the arrangement.
Macron has not ruled out calling a snap election if his government loses the vote of confidence on September 8. The next presidential election will not be until 2027.
British border officials have detained more than 100 migrants due for deportation since the new returns treaty came into effect on August 6. Since then, 3,511 migrants have arrived in small boats, meaning only about 3 per cent of arrivals are being detained so far under the deal.
A further 659 migrants arrived on Monday in nine boats, according to Home Office figures, an average of 73 per vessel. However, the numbers arriving so far this month have been the lowest in August since 2021, which has raised hopes in the Home Office that the French migrant deal is starting to deter migrants from crossing the Channel.
The change in maritime law was first announced in February by Bruno Retailleau, the French minster of the interior, but it has stalled due to a lengthy review undertaken by France’s general secretariat for the sea, an agency attached to the prime minister’s office that supervises maritime policy.
French police inspect a migrant on the beach who was trying to board a smuggler’s boat
SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP/GETTY IMAGES
In June Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, told MPs that she had urged the French to complete the maritime law review and “implement the changes as swiftly as possible”.
The law change has also faced threats of legal action by refugee charities due to concerns it will put migrants’ lives at risk. Care4Calais, the charity that successfully blocked the Rwanda scheme, said it was considering court action over the “dangerous” tactics.