France Slammed for Giving Lifejackets to Migrants as Secret Plans Leak
A British fisherman has claimed the Channel migrant crisis has taken a dramatic turn, with French authorities now handing out lifejackets and escorting boats partway across the water. Matt Coker, a deep-sea angler who’s seen countless crossings, told Times Radio he believes the French and British have admitted they can’t stop it – so now they’re trying to make it safer.
According to him, more than 7,200 people have already made the journey this year – a record for the first three months. He says the situation has escalated in the last six months, with smugglers sending out “lots of boats all at the same time… on every possible day”, reported the Express.
Coker described overhearing officials on the radio talking about giving out lifejackets: “The French, they’re giving them life jackets now because so many of them are not getting in the boats with life jackets. I suppose…they’re trying to avoid another tragedy.” He added that once the migrants are picked up by British forces, the French even ask for the lifejackets back.
What’s more alarming, he said, is that the French navy appears to be “escorting them through the shipping lane to give them a safe passage.” In his view, this has turned a once-deadly crossing into something more controlled – and potentially more inviting for those still planning to make the journey.
He said it’s “safer for you to cross the Channel now than it’s ever been” because “you’ll have an escort from when you leave the beach” and only need to go halfway, with the UK Border Force waiting to collect them near the border.
The criticism wasn’t limited to observers at sea. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp slammed the French for “actively facilitating illegal immigrants” and urged the UK government to challenge them. He argued they should be intercepting migrants on the beaches or turning boats back close to shore.
Meanwhile, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau admitted that sending asylum seekers back across the Channel could “send a clear message” and potentially stop the crisis. He’s now calling for a returns agreement between the UK and the EU – something Britain has yet to agree to.
Retailleau also hinted that French police could begin intercepting boats by the end of May once a new unit trained in public order takes to the coastline.
Coker, however, warned the whole thing is now “very well organised.” Migrants used to sneak across under the cover of darkness – now, he says, they seem emboldened, with vessels regularly launched in broad daylight and sometimes narrowly avoiding massive cargo ships mid-Channel. “It’s almost as if they’ve given up trying to stop it,” he said. “So now they’re just trying to manage it.”
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