{"id":504661,"date":"2025-10-16T17:13:13","date_gmt":"2025-10-16T17:13:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/504661\/"},"modified":"2025-10-16T17:13:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-16T17:13:13","slug":"uk-border-chief-frustrated-at-slow-french-action-on-migrant-boats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/504661\/","title":{"rendered":"UK border chief frustrated at slow French action on migrant boats"},"content":{"rendered":"

LONDON\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The UK\u2019s border chief expressed frustration Thursday that French authorities have not yet been able to deploy tactics to puncture and disable boats carrying asylum seekers in shallow waters.<\/p>\n

Martin Hewitt told MPs that rapid changes in the French government had been a \u201cpolitical backdrop\u201d to introducing a tactic seen as crucial to countering \u201ctaxi boats\u201d used to smuggle people to the UK.<\/p>\n

He was referencing instability, marked by repeated Cabinet collapses, budget standoffs and changes to the prime minister in France.<\/p>\n

Appearing before the House of Commons\u2019 Home Affairs Select Committee, Hewitt said it was \u201cfrustrating\u201d that French authorities had not been able to roll out more interventionist tactics against boats, which pick up people in shallow waters off French beaches.<\/p>\n

The French Cabinet pledged in June to change the interpretation of maritime law to allow police to intercept migrant boats at sea for the first time, within 300 meters (984 feet) of the coast.<\/p>\n

It was hailed by government insiders as a \u201cgame changer\u201d for efforts to stop crossings, which have hit more than 32,000 in 2025.<\/p>\n

But French police have said they would not act on the orders without assurances they will be protected, properly trained and well equipped.<\/p>\n

Hewitt said he was working closely with the French secretary-general to the sea, a senior French official, but continued to find the process \u201cfrustrating.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was over, and met with him in Paris three weeks ago to really press the point about how significant delivering this maritime tactic is for us because of the taxi boat scenario.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was referred to by President Macron at the summit in July when he spoke with the (British) prime minister. So, it is frustrating that it\u2019s taken the time that it has. Your point about the political instability, clearly that has been a backdrop,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Deaths in the English Channel reached \u201chorrific\u201d numbers last winter, as desperate people attempting to reach the UK stormed small boats without paying, said Hewitt.<\/p>\n

As he set out his attempts to crack down on people traffickers, he said: \u201cThis was always going to take time. This organized criminality has been developing for six or so years. It has become, and has continued to become, more sophisticated.”<\/p>\n

The Channel has become a focal point in the debate about irregular migration, with thousands attempting to cross from France to the UK in small boats.<\/p>\n


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