French police have been told to stop using rubber bullets and tear gas to stop migrants from boarding UK-bound boats within the English Channel.
In a warning to security forces, the country’s Defender of Rights told officers to stop using riot control weapons to attempt to halt crowds of migrants.
Claire Hédon, the Defender of Rights in Paris, claims the usage of armed force ‘endangers people’, and has contributed to deaths and serious injuries amongst migrants.
Her words will come as many British politicians call for stricter law enforcement by the French, who’ve received around £ 500 million from the UK to assist tackle sea crossings.
A report on the usage of weapons by Hédon, probably the most senior advisor to the French government on human rights, has been leaked to Le Monde.
She wrote: ‘The target of stopping departures is comprehensible given the danger of the crossing, and law enforcement plays a protective role, but this can’t be done at any cost.’
Her report slammed the usage of ‘rubber bullets, tear gas, and stun grenades’ against groups of migrants, including children.
As much as 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, just about all of them by Utopia 56, the migrant charity.
Hédon is especially critical of the usage of so-called ‘flash ball’ guns – ones that fireplace rubber bullets – in addition to tear gas, the riot control weapon which is banned in warfare under the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention.
Despite the hazards related to the usage of such gas, it’s steadily utilized by police across France.
The Defender of Rights recommends ‘excluding the use’ of such weapons, ‘when the only purpose of the safety forces is to forestall people from boarding a ship’.
Ms Hédon continues: ‘The usage of intermediate force weapons endangers people’.
She said the usage of weapons generally occurs at night, and this often violates rules of proportionality and transparency.
In August 2023, migrant children were among the many victims of police tactics at Sangatte, near Calais.
Hédon was particularly critical of the way in which 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 bunch of migrants who were throwing rocks ‘and other projectiles’.
In the identical month, officers prevented a ship from departing Oye-Plage, near Calais, by utilizing 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 make sure stricter control of the way in which police treat migrants.
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