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French police to use nets to stop small boat Channel crossings
French law enforcement uses 30m-wide nets to block propellers of small migrant boats amid rising crossings and UK pressure, with 39,000 migrants reaching England in 2025.
- French police will use large arresting nets up to 30m wide to stop small boats crossing the English Channel.
- Under UK pressure and bilateral talks, France agreed to change its maritime approach following a July agreement, while a 10 November meeting set interception criteria requiring demonstrated necessity.
- Commercial and training manuals show interceptor crews must overtake targets and drop nets 10–20 meters ahead to foul propellers and neutralise one or more boats simultaneously.
- French data show twenty-six people have died during crossing attempts so far in 2025, and Rémi Vandeplanque and unions warned the tactic will cause panic and fatalities.
- So-Called "taxi boats" are the primary initial targets of the interception strategy, with more than 56 per cent of people who reached the UK in 2025 transported on vessels carrying at least 50 people and almost 40,000 crossings this year.
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France could use this technique, which is usually reserved for the fight against ships carrying drugs.
·Paris, France
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'Small boats' in the Channel: Questions raised over new net interception policy
The authorities are preparing to test a technique that was previously considered too dangerous for passengers' lives in order to stop migrant boats. There are also concerns over the criminal liability faced by law enforcement involved in these operations.
·Paris, France
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Total News Sources5
Leaning Left2Leaning Right3Center0Last UpdatedBias Distribution60% Right
Bias Distribution
- 60% of the sources lean Right
60% Right
L 40%
R 60%
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