France’s most senior human rights official has warned police to stop using rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades against migrants attempting to board small boats bound for Britain.
Claire Hédon, France’s so-called “defender of rights” and the Government’s principal adviser on human rights matters, made the intervention in an 18-page report leaked to Le Monde.
The document, dated December 17, 2025, argues that the use of such force has contributed to deaths and serious injuries among migrants attempting to cross the Channel.
“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,” Ms Hédon wrote.
Her report raises serious concerns about accountability in policing operations along France’s northern coastline.
Ms Hédon criticised officers for switching off body-worn cameras during confrontations in which force was used, calling for mandatory recording throughout such incidents.
She also noted that footage captured during night-time operations was frequently unusable.
The report further highlights what it describes as a pattern of poor documentation following violent encounters.
French officers have been urged to stop using rubber bullets, tear gas and stun grenades against migrants
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In one incident cited from April 2024, police at Oye-Plage near Calais fired 14 tear gas canisters, a stun grenade and eight rubber bullets to stop a boat from departing, yet filed no subsequent report.
Other cases detailed in the document include riot police firing tear gas at a migrant boat already afloat near Gravelines in February 2023, and officers targeting children on Sangatte beach several months later.
MPs have long urged Paris to adopt tougher enforcement measures to tackle the small boats crisis.
Britain has provided around £500million to French authorities to help reduce the number of Channel crossings.
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An estimated 42,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats during 2025
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Despite this, an estimated 42,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats during 2025, with most going on to claim asylum after arriving in the UK.
Since 2022, around 40 formal complaints alleging police violence have been filed, the majority submitted by Utopia 56, an organisation which supports migrants in northern France.
Ms Hédon, a former journalist appointed to the independent role in 2020, recommended banning the use of such weapons where officers’ sole objective is to prevent vessels embarking.
Amélie Moyart, from Utopia 56, said: “There were 78 deaths linked to crossing attempts in 2024, and we connect this to police presence on the beaches, where tear gas is used indiscriminately and from a distance as people try to board boats at all costs.”
Around 40 formal complaints alleging police violence have been filed since 2022
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Ms Hédon’s report also calls for compulsory written records whenever so-called intermediate-force weapons are deployed, regardless of the outcome.
Tear gas is banned for use in armed conflict under the Chemical Weapons Convention, but is routinely used by French police in domestic policing operations.
Ms Hédon warned that such force “endangers people” and often fails to meet standards of proportionality.
The intervention comes days after French authorities stopped a migrant boat bound for Britain for the first time since Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron struck a deal to curb Channel crossings last July.
