French police have been reported to the country's human rights watchdog after using a knife to deflate a small boat packed with migrants bound for England. An officer slashed an inflatable before it collapsed at Oye-Plage, with about 25 young men wearing life jackets then forced off the boat as they retreated back to the beach.
Officers who sprinted up to the dinghy were filmed wading into shin-depth water, although it is unclear from the video whether it was actually afloat. But migrant charity Utopia 56 claimed it was illegal to deflate the dinghy while it was already in the water.
The latest incident comes amid a shift in tactics by French police in the wake of a £660million three-year deal for beach patrols to be funded by the British taxpayer. More than 7,300 migrants have successfully crossed the Channel this year and the total since the crisis began in 2018 is poised to tip over 200,000.
Now it's time to have your say in the Daily Mail's latest poll – should French police be using knives to deflate migrant boats? In yesterday's poll, Mail readers were asked: 'Is the jet fuel crisis putting you off flying this summer?' Out of nearly 3,000 votes, 63 per cent of you said 'no' and 37 per cent said 'yes'.
