Nord and Pas-de-Calais prefecture aims to stop anti-migrant groups travelling for ‘Operation Overlord’ protest
French authorities have announced a sweeping ban on British far-right activists planning to take part in a “stop the boats” protest against asylum seekers hoping to cross the Channel to the UK.
Friday’s announcement by the prefecture in northern France goes further than a previous ban by the French interior ministry on 10 unnamed far-right activists associated with the organisation Raise the Colours for “having carried out actions on French soil”.
The ban, from the Nord and Pas-de-Calais prefecture, aims to prevent British far-right activists involved in “Operation Overlord” from travelling to France this weekend. The ban comes into force at 11pm on Friday evening and continues until 8am on Monday morning.
Operation Overlord was launched by Raise the Colours, an anti-migrant group placing England flags and union jacks on lamp-posts. But Daniel Thomas, an associate of the activist Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, known as Tommy Robinson, parted company with the group and is now running Operation Overlord.
