Officers from the Police nationale monitor the beach at Gravelines as migrants prepare to cross the English Channel. At Gravelines (Pas-de-Calais), March 3, 2026. SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP
More than 6,000 people have reached England in small inflatable boats since the beginning of 2026. The number of crossings remains high, even as France has changed its maritime intervention policy to curb migrant departures to England. The new approach, according to a confidential document dated November 25, 2025, allows France's maritime gendarmerie to intercept small boats, a practice previously excluded in the Channel due to the risk of capsizing and drowning.
Testimony before the ongoing parliamentary commission of inquiry into the 2003 Touquet Treaty has shed further light on how these operations are carried out. On April 8, France's top immigration official, Laurent Touvet, emphasized that the new policy "has been the subject of very many exchanges with judicial authorities (...) to ensure that maritime gendarmerie forces would not be held responsible during these actions."
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