French police take increasingly aggressive action against migrant boats on the Channel: 'They could cause many victims'

Research collective Lighthouse Reports Searched along with Le Monde, Der Spiegel And observer French activities in the canal for months. Using video footage, leaked documents, and statements from eyewitnesses, border guards, and high-ranking officials, they were able to document various situations in which French police carried out dangerous maneuvers near boats carrying migrants and refugees.

For example, photos show a French patrol boat in the port of Dunkirk speeding around a migrant boat several times, aiming to create waves and fill the boat with water. As a result, the migrants have to return to mainland France. The aforementioned video shows about 25 people on board the boat.

In other images, a police boat sails alongside a boat carrying migrants, and passengers are threatened with a large can of pepper spray. There are also accounts of patrol boats ramming migrant boats and rubber dinghies that police punctured with knives, forcing their occupants to swim back to shore. An Indian immigrant, among others, bears witness to this. “We had to swim for 10 minutes, and we almost died.”