France mulls intercepting UK-bound migrant boats at sea

LILLE: France is considering stopping Britain-bound migrant boats in its shallow coastal waters, but the move raises both safety and legal issues.

France has long been a launchpad for migrants hoping to cross the Channel and start a better life in Britain.

Paying smugglers thousands of dollars, they often board overloaded rubber dinghies to make the dangerous and sometimes deadly journey across one of the world's busiest shipping routes.

France and Britain have long vowed to crack down on people smugglers who organise the journey.

But until now, French authorities have only intervened on land to prevent boats leaving.

But once the vessels are at sea, French authorities have, under international maritime law, so far only intervened if someone's life was in danger.

To avoid French authorities stopping them on land, smugglers have in recent years chosen to "taxi" migrants out to boats waiting in choppy waters just off-shore, rather than depart from the beach.

But as more small boats land on English shores, and the UK government comes under mounting pressure from the far right to tackle irregular migration, London has pressed Paris to do more.

The French interior ministry on Wednesday told AFP it wanted its rules to "evolve" so its law enforcement officers could "intervene in shallow waters and stop 'taxi boats' up to 300 metres from the coast".

It said an inter-ministerial committee had tasked French sea authorities with drawing up an action plan "by the summer".

The hope, the ministry added, was to have "shared orientations" in time for a French-British summit that President Emmanuel Macron is expected to attend in England from July 8 to 10.

- Tear gas, knives -

In February, London and Paris agreed to extend a deal under which the United Kingdom funds some of France's border security measures to stop migrants trying to reach British shores.

Hardline Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has already called for a new approach that would allow French forces to intercept boats in the water.

Crossings have since only increased.

Some 1,194 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats on June 1, a record for this year according to AFP counting from government data.

"We know more needs to be done with the French to build upon the 10,000 crossing attempts that we have stopped this year, and are strengthening our cooperation to do this," a UK home office official said on Wednesday.

Migrants, some travelling with children, have been making the most of the fair weather in recent days to make the sea crossing.

On Monday morning, AFP saw dozens of migrants, some from Eritrea, sprint across a northern French beach at sunrise and French police fire teargas in their direction.

Wading into the sea up to their waists or higher, some appearing to carry toddlers, they however managed to board a rubber boat.

AFP has in the past also seen policemen -- who are deployed en masse along northern French beaches -- use knives to slash the inflatable dinghies on land to prevent departures.

This is in part why smugglers now prefer the "taxi boat" system with pickups directly at sea, leading to perilous and often deadly passenger pickups.

- 'Brutal and dangerous' -

At least 17 people have died trying to cross the Channel to Britain by boat this year, after a record 78 lost their lives attempting crossing last year.

It is not clear how many of them died during departure but an official French report in February noted that the stages of "boarding and/or return to the beach" were particularly perilous, with an increased risk of drowning or hypothermia.

Migrant support organisation Utopia 56 said French authorities intervening at sea would only increase the "risk of the boat capsizing", and be "brutal and dangerous".

Thibaut Fleury Graff, an international law professor at Pantheon-Assas University, said any intervention in shallow waters needs legal justification.

Under international law, people have "the right to leave any country," he said.

In territorial waters, a state can detain a ship only "if there is a legal basis" to do so such as "the commission of a criminal offence," he said.

The alleged offence of "human trafficking could potentially apply, but it would need to be directed not at the migrants but at the smugglers," he added.