Migrants crossing the Channel in small boats (Image: Getty )
crooks are avoiding French authorities by using a loophole in the law to stop the police from intercepting small boats launching to cross the English Channel.
Laws in France prevent cops from stopping boats when they are in the water, so smugglers force would-be illegal immigrants to the crafts waiting to take them to England.
But the criminals may soon be stopped as French ministers are considering lifting the ban on cops engaging vessels once they are in the water.
According to , French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has called for a new approach to stemming the tide of migrants using the Gallic coast as a springboard to reach the UK.
Under the new proposals, Mr Retailleau wants to stop the tactic smugglers use of so-called ‘taxi boats’ to pick up passengers from the sea.
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A map showing routes used in the Channel (Image: Telegraph )
As this illustration shows, criminal gangs launch their vessels from the shoreline before swinging round the coast to pick up migrants from the water as police are powerless to intervene.
As it stands, French authorities can only intervene on the illegal crossings at the moment if the small boats are obviously getting into difficulty and putting lives at risk.
Mr Retailleau said: “We need to rethink our approach so that we can intercept the boats. We must be able to intercept them within 300 metres of the coast.
“They have a naval service, the gendarmerie, and they must be able to intervene in shallow waters.”
Migrants approaching the White Cliffs of Dover (Image: Getty )
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More than 108,000 people applied for asylum in the UK last year, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001, figures show.
The total of 108,138 asylum seekers is up 18% from 91,811 in 2023, according to data published by the Home Office.
The previous record was 103,081 in the 12 months to December 2002.
Migrants who made the journey to the UK across the English Channel in small boats accounted for 32% of the total in 2024.
The data shows 38,079 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in hotels at the end of December, up 2,428 from 35,651 at the end of September.
This is the second quarterly rise in a row, although the figure is still some way below the recent peak of 56,042 at the end of September 2023.