French police slash migrant boat and drag passengers back to shore just as they attempt to set across the Channel for Britain
Dramatic footage shows dozens of migrants and asylum seekers boarding an inflatable dingy as it approaches the shallow waters.
But before they can set off on their perilous journey across the English Channel, police descend on the beach.
Taking off their police vests, the cops rush into the sea and quickly pierce through the inflatable boat with a knife.
Passengers erupt in anger as the boat deflates, causing many of them to fall into the water.
Furious screams can be heard as they scurry to get back to the beach, while children can be seen crying.
All the migrants on board managed to make their way safely back to shore.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said it was a 'different' and 'welcome' strategy that was part of wider plans for French police to start intercepting migrants in shallow waters.
The shocking scenes on the French coast this morning demonstrate the huge challenge authorities face in trying to stop people smugglers from transporting migrants to the UK.
French police are prevented by law from intervening once a boat is in the water.
But in today's instance, cops reportedly deemed the dinghy to be close enough to the shore.
It is not the first time, however, that French police have deflated migrant boats.
Last month, cops were seen single-handedly foiling an attempt by migrants to cross the Channel in a dingy by stabbing it with a knife.
Video footage showed how a group of refugees and migrants aboard the boat were attempting to follow a short stream leading to the sea just metres away, as French police watched them.
One officer was then seen holding a sharp implement, believed to be a knife, and stabbing the sides of the boat to make it unusable.
Images later showed the crumpled boat completely deflated with life jackets scattered around, as those on the boat left the scene and returned to a camp where they had been staying.
It comes as France and Britain hope to unveil measures at their summit next week that will reportedly allow French police to intercept such 'taxi boats' - a new phenomenon - up to 300 metres from shore.
Police, activists and migrants interviewed by Reuters were sceptical such a plan would work.
'I just don't see how this could ever be implemented,' said Julien Soir, a police union representative in the northern city of Lille. 'Getting it up and running is simply impossible.'
He said police were already stretched covering 112 miles of coastline and lack the equipment and training needed for seaborne operations.
Police also fear drowning if they fall in the water with heavy equipment, or personal legal liability if migrants die or are injured during an intervention.
Angele Vettorello, a coordinator at the Utopia 56 charity in Calais, said numbers were rising despite more French police patrolling beaches, including with British-sponsored drones.
She said the proposed measures would only make a dangerous crossing - last year 73 migrants died navigating what is one of the world's busiest shipping lanes - more perilous.
If implemented, it would 'lead to even more deaths ... more distress,' she said.
Asked if France would go ahead with the plan, an aide to President Emmanuel Macron told reporters announcements would be saved for the summit on Thursday, adding that both countries were working to intensify efforts to prevent crossings and break the traffickers' lucrative economic model.
The influx of migrants has helped Nigel Farage's Reform UK overtake Starmer's Labour Party in polls.
Farage, a right-wing populist and longtime immigration hard-liner, has proposed using the Navy to intercept migrant vessels and take them back to France.
Lawyers say this could only be done if France agreed.
Nearly 20,000 asylum seekers have arrived in Britain via small boats so far this year, a 50% increase compared to the same period in 2024.
French and British authorities blame the spike on unusually good weather.
Peter Walsh, from Oxford University's Migration Observatory, said maritime interception may stop more migrants but would not affect long-term trends behind the migrant surge, including multiple conflicts and the allure of English-speaking Britain.
Britain also wants to negotiate a returns agreement with France, which it had before it left the European Union.
At a filthy migrant camp near Dunkirk, Reuters spoke with several migrants who were unaware of the new proposal. They said it wouldn't stop them from trying to cross.
Israrullah Lodin, 26, left Afghanistan in 2021 after his family's work with the U.S. army irked the Taliban. He had failed to cross three times; twice he was stopped by police and once his boat had problems. Lodin dreamed of working in a UK fulfilment warehouse. Nothing would stop him from getting there.
'We are not afraid to die,' he said. 'I have to reach my destination.'
Nisarahmad Afghan, 23, had been a migrant almost all his adult life, having left his home region of Nangarhar four years ago. He had made two failed attempts to cross, both foiled by police.
'Until I succeed, I will keep trying,' he said. 'I've passed through many dangerous roads. I will pass this one too.
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