French police have been told to stop using rubber bullets and tear gas to stop migrants from boarding UK-bound boats in the English Channel.
In a warning to security forces, the country’s Defender of Rights told officers to stop using riot control weapons to try to halt crowds of migrants.
Claire Hédon, the Defender of Rights in Paris, claims the use of armed force ‘endangers people’, and has contributed to deaths and serious injuries among migrants.
Her words will come as many British politicians call for stricter law enforcement by the French, who have received around £ 500 million from the UK to help tackle sea crossings.
A report on the use of weapons by Hédon, the most senior advisor to the French government on human rights, has been leaked to Le Monde.
She wrote: ‘The objective of preventing departures is understandable given the danger of the crossing, and law enforcement plays a protective role, but this cannot be done at any cost.’
Her report slammed the use of ‘rubber bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades’ against groups of migrants, including children.
Up to 42,000 people crossed the English Channel in inflatable boats organised by people smugglers in 2025, with most of them claiming asylum.
Since 2022, there have been 40 complaints about police violence, almost all of them by Utopia 56, the migrant charity.
Hédon is particularly critical of the use of so-called ‘flash ball’ guns – ones that fire rubber bullets – as well as tear gas, the riot control weapon which is banned in warfare under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.
Despite the dangers associated with the use of such gas, it is frequently used by police across France.
The Defender of Rights recommends ‘excluding the use’ of such weapons, ‘when the sole purpose of the security forces is to prevent people from boarding a boat’.
Ms Hédon continues: ‘The use of intermediate force weapons endangers people’.
She said the use of weapons generally occurs at night, and this often violates rules of proportionality and transparency.
In August 2023, migrant children were among the victims of police tactics at Sangatte, near Calais.
Hédon was particularly critical of the way police body cameras are switched off during incidents when weapons are used and said police seldom file detailed reports about violent interventions.
On April 26, 2024, police admitted firing 10 rubber bullet rounds and using 37 tear gas grenades near Gravelines against a group of migrants who were throwing rocks ‘and other projectiles’.
In the same month, officers prevented a boat from departing Oye-Plage, near Calais, by using 14 tear gas grenades, one stun grenade, and eight rubber bullet rounds, but ‘no report was filed after this intervention,’ notes the Defender of Rights.
Hédon has called for ‘an intervention doctrine’ to ensure stricter control of the way police treat migrants.
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.
