Would-be migrants hurl stones at French police

FRANCE – Would-be migrants hurled stones at French riot police in anger after officers slashed and deflated dinghies being prepared for English Channel crossings yesterday morning.

The group clashed with police in the village of Gravelines near Dunkirk after hundreds of migrants headed to the area on Friday.

Public officers from the French CRS - the general reserve of the French National Police - slashed and deflated at least two of the migrants’ rubber dinghies before they could launch, according to GB News.

FRUSTRATED

Frustrated, migrants began to throw stones and tree branches at the officers, who used the riot control agent CS spray. Large numbers of small boats are expected to launch this weekend after poor weather put a stop to all channel crossings since October 31.

Groups were pictured in the early hours of Saturday at Border Force facilities in Dover, Kent, for the first time in a fortnight.

There are around 6 000 makeshift camps in the Dunkirk area, reported GB News.

AGREED

The clash is a result of a new police presence across the French coast between Dunkirk and Calais, ahead of an expected announcement of a new channel security deal between the UK and France. The UK has agreed to pay an extra £60 million to help authorities bolster the security presence along the French coast.

It comes as Home Secretary Suella Braverman is under increasing pressure to get a grip on the crisis, with huge backlogs in processing asylum claims and horrific conditions reported at migrant detention centres.