Police chief demands Channel blockade in ‘Stop them on the water’ | UK | News
A senior Belgian officer has weighed in on plans for a naval blockade of the Canal following an increase in the launching of small boats from coastal towns near the French border.
West Flanders Police Deputy Chief Christiaan De Ridder said: “We have to stop them before they get to the UK. We have to find a way to stop them in the water. If we could put up a sea barrier so they don’t enter French waters, everything would stop.”
The call follows reports that criminal smuggling gangs are taking advantage of a loophole created by the promise of tighter scrutiny by French coastal police by shifting some of their operations across the border into Belgium. Boats leaving the Belgian coast are known to pick up additional passengers from remote parts of the Dunkirk and Calais coastline.
Belgian police have arrested 40 suspected traffickers and detained more than 360 migrants since the beginning of the year; recorded approximately 30 passes; This is a record of enforcement that dwarfs anything seen on the French side of the border.
Why is France under fire for Channel crossings?
France is facing increasing criticism for allowing boats to be diverted to British waters instead of returning, the BBC reports; this practice continues despite the fact that the crossings are illegal and widely accepted to be run by organized crime.
Anger is fueled by Britain pledging £660 million over three years to France specifically to combat transit. Footage from Gravelines beach near Dunkirk appeared to contradict French promises to increase patrols and showed migrants boarding a ship with no officers in sight.
Active sanction by French officers is highly unusual. Last week, police deflated a migrant boat off the coast of Calais, resulting in officers being referred to a human rights watchdog.
What’s going on in Belgium?
Images from the Belgian seaside town of Middlekerke, about an hour away from Calais, show migrants running quickly through residential streets to reach the beach and board ships.
The developments come after Channel crossings totaled more than 200,000 for the first time since tracking began in 2018.
Dunkirk Mayor Jean Marie Emmery dismissed the Belgian approach as unnecessary, arguing on BBC Radio 4’s Today program that legal reform was the only viable solution.
“We don’t need this,” he said. “We need a change of law. We need a change in Great Britain, Europe and Belgium, and then this will stop.”
