Migrants crossing the English Channel for Britain (Image: Getty)
A new French “surge team” of 45 police officers deployed to tackle the small boats crisis in Normandy will not have the power to enter the water. People traffickers have changed tactics in recent months preferring use so-called ‘mega dinghies’ carrying 100s of migrants from beaches further south along the coast from previous launch sites near Calais and Dunkirk.
French authorities have so far failed to stop a number of the larger craft which are being deployed up to 150 miles southwest of Calais, even as far as the beaches of Normandy.
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Prime Minister Andy Burnham welcomed outgoing French President Emmanuel Macron, who will leave office in spring next year, to Downing Street this week to discuss the illegal migrant crisis. The Home Office have said the new surge teams in France will be used to target people smugglers, but according to The Times officers will not have the power to enter the water.
Being unable to enter the waves could make the Gallic police taskforce impotent as people traffickers are known to drive their dinghies up along the coast and pick up waiting migrants who rush into the surf to clamber onto the boats.
Andy Burnham and Emmanuel Macron at Downing Street (Image: Getty)
The Times reports officers will only be able to enter the water if there is an immediate threat to life.
Referencing the meeting between Mr Burnham and Mr Macron, a Downing Street spokesman told the Times: “The prime minister said the co-operation between both countries was clearly working and operational teams were making headway on driving down numbers and reducing crossings.
“It was now vital to ensure that success was scaled up across Europe to deter illegal migration, the leaders agreed.”
A commanding officer working to intercept the small boats on beaches in northern France previously told the Times his teams “can’t” stop the migrants once they are in the water.
He said: “It’s too dangerous. We tell them they can’t cross the sea but they don’t listen because they are so desperate.”
French officers look on as migrants wait for a boat (Image: Getty)
Some 16,391 migrants have crossed the Channel so far this year, around half the number under Labour last year.
A total of 7,371 people crossed illegally over the summer months, with 2,313 people arriving over the course of August, excluding official figures for the Bank Holiday Monday.
The Home Office pointed to the impact of the UK-France enforcement deal, which has resulted in more French police action on the northern beaches of the country.
Joint action with the French has prevented more than 48,000 crossing attempts since the election in 2024, the Government department said.
More than 1,100 boats and engines have been seized by the National Crime Agency and international partners, in a bid to choke off the supply of vehicles, the Home Office also said.
France’s new 45-man anti-small boats team ‘will not have the power to enter the water’
A new team of 45 French police officers is being deployed to beaches in western France as part of an expanded UK-France effort to prevent small boats from crossing the English Channel. However, reports that the officers will generally not have the authority to enter the water have raised questions about exactly how the new unit will operate and what it can achieve.
The deployment was announced as part of a wider increase in French resources targeting people-smuggling networks and the launch of migrant boats. The UK government says the additional officers are intended to respond to changing tactics by criminal gangs, particularly the growing use of much larger inflatable boats, sometimes referred to as “mega dinghies”.
The 45 officers will operate on beaches further west along the French coastline, where authorities say smugglers have increasingly shifted their activities. The move is part of a broader UK-funded partnership that now involves nearly 1,050 French officers working on measures connected with Channel crossings.
Why the new team is being deployed
The geography of small-boat crossings has changed as French authorities have increased policing around the areas historically used most frequently by smugglers.
According to the UK government, the new surge team is designed to address launches from beaches further along the French coast as well as the emergence of larger boats capable of carrying significantly more people. The government says the additional officers will nearly triple the French policing resource in the western area where they are being deployed.
The strategy is not limited to physically stopping boats. A separate French intelligence and judicial unit has been expanded from 18 to 30 officers, with responsibility for identifying and disrupting people-smuggling networks. Another 75-strong specialist unit has also become operational in northern France.
The overall objective is therefore broader than simply intercepting migrants on the shoreline. Authorities are also attempting to prevent boats from reaching the sea, identify the criminal organisations supplying equipment and boats, and gather evidence for prosecutions.
The controversy over entering the water
The central issue surrounding the 45-person deployment concerns what French officers can legally do once a boat has entered the Channel.
Reports have highlighted restrictions under French maritime rules concerning police intervention in the water. Officers operating on beaches are not simply free to pursue every boat into the sea. Intervention can depend on the circumstances, the risks involved and the orders of commanders.
The issue is particularly important because stopping a boat before it launches is fundamentally different from intercepting one that is already carrying people in the water.
French authorities have previously faced concerns over the danger of boats capsizing when police attempt to intervene. A French policy introduced progressively from late 2025 has nevertheless expanded the circumstances in which maritime authorities can intercept certain small boats, particularly vessels associated with so-called “taxi-boat” operations.
The distinction means that the new 45 officers should not necessarily be viewed as a conventional maritime interception force. Their primary role is focused on the beaches and the prevention of launches.
Why the restrictions exist
The Channel is one of the world’s busiest shipping areas, with commercial vessels travelling at high speed through waters that can also experience strong currents, poor visibility and rapidly changing weather.
An overcrowded inflatable boat presents additional dangers. Attempts to stop or board such a vessel can cause instability, potentially putting passengers and officers at risk.
French authorities have therefore had to balance enforcement against maritime safety and the possibility of deaths at sea.
That balance has been a recurring feature of the UK-France debate over small boats. While British governments have consistently demanded stronger French action before boats depart, French officials have also faced legal and operational questions about what their officers can safely do once migrants are already at sea.
The House of Commons Library noted in its 2026 briefing on UK-France border cooperation that French police have increasingly been authorised to intercept certain boats in the water, while intervention remains subject to circumstances and safety considerations.
The wider UK-France agreement
The latest deployment is part of a much larger cooperation programme between London and Paris.
In April 2026, the two countries agreed a new three-year cycle of UK funding worth £662 million for measures addressing unauthorised migration and small-boat crossings. The partnership has developed through several agreements and arrangements over many years, including the Le Touquet Treaty and the Sandhurst Treaty.
The British government argues that French enforcement has produced measurable results. Official figures cited ahead of the latest announcement showed that French police teams funded by Britain had prevented 185 small-boat crossings between 27 April and 2 August.
The government also said that the number of people arriving in Britain by small boat during the summer was the lowest for that period since 2020.
Those figures are important because they show why the government is expanding the existing system rather than replacing it entirely.
At the same time, the continued crossings demonstrate that the problem has not disappeared.
Smugglers are changing their tactics
One of the biggest challenges for French and British authorities is that people-smuggling networks can change their methods quickly.
In northern France, increased policing has encouraged some smugglers to explore different launch points. The Commons Library has reported a significant increase in attempts involving migrant “taxi boats” launched from Belgian beaches during the first months of 2026.
French officials have also identified launches further west along the French coast as an emerging concern.
The introduction of “mega dinghies” represents another adaptation. Larger inflatable boats can potentially carry far more passengers, creating new challenges for police and maritime authorities.
This is why the new 45-person team has been presented as a “surge” resource rather than simply an increase in routine beach patrols.
Critics question the effectiveness
The restrictions on entering the water have prompted criticism from political opponents of the government’s approach.
Some critics argue that officers who cannot routinely pursue boats after they have entered the Channel may have limited ability to prevent crossings at the final stage of a launch. The argument is that smugglers could potentially exploit the boundary between beach enforcement and maritime intervention.
The criticism has been particularly strong from UK politicians who want France to take more direct action against boats after they leave the shoreline.
However, supporters of the current approach point to the risks of attempting to stop overcrowded vessels at sea. They argue that preventing a launch in the first place, disrupting smuggling organisations and confiscating equipment can reduce danger without requiring high-risk maritime confrontations.
The French government’s approach therefore reflects a combination of enforcement, intelligence work and safety considerations rather than a simple policy of stopping every vessel by force.
What happens next?
The effectiveness of the 45 officers will depend heavily on how they are deployed.
If their main responsibility is to prevent boats from launching, their success could be measured through disrupted launches, seized equipment and intelligence leading to arrests or prosecutions.
If smugglers respond by moving further along the coastline or changing their methods again, however, French and British authorities could face another cycle of adaptation.
That is why the wider deployment matters. The 45 officers are only one component of a network that now includes specialist intelligence teams, northern French police units and other officers dealing with public-order and migration enforcement.
The UK and France have also stressed the importance of cooperation because the Channel is a shared European security and migration challenge.
The latest arrangement therefore illustrates the complicated reality behind the headline. France is putting additional officers on beaches specifically to counter changing small-boat tactics, but those officers are not simply a new force of maritime police with unrestricted powers to chase vessels into the Channel.
Their role is principally preventive, while other French units have separate responsibilities for intelligence, judicial investigations and maritime intervention.
For Britain, the ultimate test will be whether the expanded cooperation produces a sustained reduction in dangerous crossings while disrupting the criminal networks organising them. For France, the challenge is to enforce its coastline while maintaining the safety and legal safeguards that govern police intervention at sea.
The 45-person team is consequently another stage in an evolving UK-France strategy rather than a standalone solution. Its deployment demonstrates that both countries continue to adapt their response as smugglers change routes, equipment and methods. Whether the additional resources can keep pace with those changes will become clearer as the new team begins its operations.