French police fire tear gas and pepper spray at migrants seeking to board 'small boats' heading to UK - The new tactics come after officers were criticised for standing by and watching overcrowded ...

In all there were probably 80 or 100 people. But when the first "taxi-boat" - used by the smuggling gangs to collect passengers from various points along the French coast - sped past perhaps 100m ...

In a flash, on one recent crossing attempt, French police swooped in with knives, wading into the water and slashing the boat’s thin rubber — literally deflating the migrants’ hopes and dreams.

French police usually follow strict rules that bar them from going into the sea in case they put lives at risk. "Let's go in," said one of the gendarmes, pulling off his body armour, and taking ...