Project Play finds UK taxpayers are funding ‘record child fatalities’ and ‘repeated violence’ against children in northern France
The deaths of 22 children while trying to cross the Channel in the last two years, along with the mistreatment of thousands of others, were due to “catastrophic failures” of the UK and French governments, according to a new report.
Project Play, an NGO that has worked with 2,192 children hoping to cross the Channel from northern France to the UK to claim asylum in the last two years, has documented the impact of the hostile conditions in northern France due to regular teargassing, evictions and dinghy-slashing by the French police.
During that period the NGO documented the deaths of 22 children trying to cross the Channel, including five last year. The 2025 deaths were all due to crushing or asphyxiation in overcrowded dinghies. The youngest was eight-year-old Agdad Hilmi from Turkey, who died alongside her mother.
Since 2023, the UK has provided £473m to the French government for the “securitisation” of the border in northern France – but the breakdown of how that money is spent is unclear. Project Play workers say UK taxpayers are not aware that they are helping to fund violent tactics against children at the UK-France border. The report calls for a statutory inquiry into this border security operation and safe and accessible routes for those who want to claim asylum in the UK.
