The government has been accused of “fuelling an arms race of dangerous interceptions” that could “turn the Channel into a graveyard” after it emerged that French police will use large nets to stop small boat crossings – despite warnings that such tactics could put lives at risk.
France has been under mounting pressure from the UK to reduce the number of small boats Channel crossings, with Labour ramping up its efforts to deter people from making the crossings in a fresh crackdown this week.
In July, the French government said it intended to revise its maritime laws to allow for vessel interceptions, but the proposal was postponed over fears that it might endanger lives.
It has now come to light, however, that since the spring several French law-enforcement officers have been issued “arresting nets” that, according to a source familiar with the development, can be deployed both in efforts to curb illegal immigration and in operations targeting drug trafficking.
MPs and campaign groups have condemned the action, with Amnesty describing the revelations as “profoundly disturbing” and Refugee Action saying the plans are “violent, reckless and will undoubtedly increase the risk of people dying”.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome said the use of nets is an “extreme, inhumane policy that will put lives at risk”, and Rachael Maskell said she is “deeply troubled” by the reports.
Meanwhile, Mothin Ali, deputy leader of the Green Party, accused the government of a “dangerous political game of cruelty that puts vulnerable people’s lives at risk.”
Two sources from the French Ministry of the Interior told investigative newsroom Lighthouse and French newspaper Le Monde that nets will be used to carry out interceptions of small boats.
But Remi Vandeplanque, a French coastguard official and representative of the French customs union Solidaires Douanes, warned that the use of such tactics to stop people in small boats trying to reach the UK will lead to deaths and that there is “no way” to carry out such manoeuvres safely.
“There are usually at least 50 people on board, sometimes more. Whatever you do, you will create panic or distress, and one day there will be a disaster. The first time, maybe it will be OK, once or twice. But it’s clear that one day there will be fatalities caused by this,” he said.
On 30 September, a letter from the Solidaires Douanes union to the French customs general director, Florian Colas, condemned France’s plans to intercept small boats at sea as “inhumane” and “absurd”. The letter warned that such tactics “risk causing shipwrecks and deaths, for which the moral and criminal responsibility would rest entirely on the personnel in charge of carrying out the interventions”.
French gendarmerie, who will be carrying out the interceptions, are said to be concerned about the risk of casualties and fear officers could face criminal prosecutions as a result of deaths.
“The police want guarantees. The prosecutors’ offices would have to make the grounds for prosecution very limited,” according to a source at the Ministry of the Interior.
“Impossible,” retorted another source. “No magistrate will agree to give the police carte blanche.”
France faces mounting pressure from the UK to introduce tougher measures to prevent small boats from leaving its shores. The new funding cycle for securing the Franco-British border is set to conclude in March, and the release of British funds to France is said to be contingent on Paris giving assurances of a tougher maritime security presence.
A French government source said: “The Brits are putting pressure on everyone, from the most junior project manager to the minister himself.”
Responding to the revelations, Tom Southerden. Amnesty’s legal programme director, told The Independent: “Reports that French officers may use large nets to disable small boats in the Channel are profoundly disturbing.
“Deploying tactics designed to stop high-speed drug-smuggling vessels against overcrowded, unstable dinghies full of people seeking protection is an inherently reckless and dangerous approach.”
He added: “Instead of fuelling an arms race of dangerous interceptions, the UK and France should focus on expanding safe routes and improving asylum procedures. Policies that gamble with people’s lives at sea are indefensible and both governments must immediately abandon any plan that risks turning the Channel into a graveyard.”
Meanwhile, Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, said: “Pullbacks at sea such as the use of nets or knives to stop or slash boats are violent, reckless and will undoubtedly increase the risk of people dying.”
Calling for the establishment of safe and legal routes for asylum seekers to access Britain, he added: “Let’s not forget that when we speak of boats, we are speaking of human beings, men, women, children, who are seeking safety and stability.”
Rose Bernstein, interim director of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, called the plans “dangerous and risky”, while Steve Smith from Care4Calais said it would “undoubtedly put lives at risk”.
“It is absolutely damning of the moral vacuum that exists within the relationship between the UK and French governments that rather than creating safe routes for people to safely claim asylum in the UK, they would choose to put more lives at risk with inhumane tactics like this one,” he added.
Labour MP Nadia Whittome said: “This is an extreme, inhumane policy that will put lives at risk. The human cost of the government’s attempts to appease the far right is devastating.
“Former Labour voters are telling me they no longer recognise our party. This kind of cruelty is not what they voted for.”
The Home Office has been contacted for comment.
