This is the moment dry-footed French police officers declined to intervene as UK-bound migrants boarded 'taxi boats' off the coast of Calais.
Footage shows dozens of migrants waiting waist-deep in the sea for the smuggling gangs who are tasked with ferrying them across the Channel.
But in an unexpected twist, members of the Gendarme are seen helplessly standing on the sand as they watch asylum seekers board the small boats bound for England in a calm and orderly fashion.
French authorities say they have been working tirelessly to halt a surge of asylum seekers from reaching Britain on small boats, but as the video shows, cops are finding it harder to intercept migrants.
This is because people smugglers have been upgrading their tactics to throw-off police.
