The French maritime gendarmerie off the coast of Gravelines, France, June 13, 2025. SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP
It is now written in black and white. Confidential, but no less official. France's maritime gendarmerie will conduct interception operations at sea targeting inflatable boats intended to transport migrants to England. Le Monde has seen a document defining the operational framework for the unprecedented interventions, dated November 25 and signed by four state prefects.
The document, which had been expected for several months, was at the heart of negotiations between London and Paris over how to combat maritime crossings, which nearly 40,000 people have succeeded in making since the beginning of 2025. In total, since the phenomenon first appeared at the end of 2018, 190,000 migrants originating from Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq, Albania, Syria, or Sudan have managed to reach the United Kingdom by sea. Most of them applied for and obtained asylum upon arrival.
These crossings, which are far more visible than arrivals by truck through the Channel Tunnel or by ferry, have become a major source of tension between Paris and London. "It is essential that we deploy these tactics this month," British Prime Minister Keir Starmer urged French President Emmanuel Macron in a recent letter seen by Le Monde. "We have no effective deterrent in the Channel," he further lamented.
