The crack teams of supposedly aquaphobic Frenchmen were announced after a meeting between Andy Burnham and Emmanuel Macron.
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.
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.