France Condemns UK Hard-Right Plan to Deploy Navy Against Channel Migrants

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Paris: France has strongly condemned a proposal by Britain's hard-right Reform UK party to employ the Royal Navy to seize and return migrant boats crossing the English Channel, calling it illegal and a breach of French sovereignty. The initiative, launched by party leader Nigel Farage under the guise of "Operation Fortress," has aroused outrage among French politicians and legal experts.

If Reform UK wins the next general election, the plan would result in the greatest military deployment across the English Channel since World War II. It suggests that Royal Navy ships intercept small boats transporting asylum seekers and accompany them back to France or Belgium. However, France stated that Britain cannot simply return migrants without French authorisation, warning that such acts would violate international marine law and existing bilateral accords.

Military analysts and former Royal Navy personnel have also questioned the proposal's viability, claiming that warships are not equipped for migrant interception missions and that British soldiers cannot enter French territorial seas without authorisation. The debate arose despite a recently renewed UK-France border security pact aimed at fighting illegal Channel crossings through combined patrols, intelligence sharing, and intensified French coastline enforcement.