French police failed to chase down 12 suspected people-smugglers yesterday after they abandoned their boat on the beach near Calais and sauntered away.
The officers made no attempt to follow despite the intense focus on their president’s new deal with Sir Keir Starmer to stop the boats.
Instead, minutes earlier, the same policemen – in full riot gear – had fired rounds of tear gas to disperse at least 50 migrants, who had emerged from the sand dunes to try to board the vessel at Gravelines beach to make their way to Britain.
At the same time, a police drone hovered in the sky overhead as a few more officers monitored the situation from a nearby lighthouse.
As if to drive home the farce of the dawn spectacle, witnessed by The Mail on Sunday, three officers then amused themselves by slashing the inflatable dinghy to make it inoperable – before taking selfies.
It is thought around 200 migrants had slept in the dunes overnight, hoping to be lucky.
Among them was a 26-year-old Bangladeshi man, Shahin, who admitted he had planned to seek asylum as soon as he reached England – by claiming he was a minor. He had even shaved for the occasion to make himself look younger.
The Mail on Sunday’s reporter caught up with him as he hurried back to Calais with a group of ten Vietnamese nationals, many still clutching their life jackets, to catch a bus back to their camp in Dunkirk, 18 miles away.
Begging us not to film or photograph him, Shahin said he had been living in Britain until three months ago, having arrived on a domestic work visa and had claimed asylum while working in the construction industry.
When his asylum claim was rejected, he said he then married a woman in London, living in Whitechapel until the marriage broke down and he decided to leave for France.
Shahin said he had reconciled with his wife and paid a Kurdish people-smuggler £1,730 to take him to the UK, and had already tried twice in lorries, but was caught both times.
Speaking in his native Bengali, he said, laughing: ‘This is why I have shaved. I am actually 26. When I finally get there I will say I am underage.’
Meanwhile, three boats carrying dozens of migrants successfully left from other destinations along the coastline and were intercepted by Border Force cutters mid-way in the English Channel and brought to Dover.
On Friday, 353 boat migrants arrived in Dover in ten boats, bringing the record tally this year so far to 22,043.
Last night, Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘After Keir Starmer’s posturing and fake bonhomie with Emmanuel Macron last week, The Mail on Sunday has uncovered the reality of what is actually happening on the ground in France.
‘Far from smashing the gangs, brazen people-smugglers are allowed to walk free.
‘And now we learn that a 26-year-old Bangladeshi plans to pretend to be under18 in order to get special treatment in the UK.’
Mr Philp added: ‘Since we’re the only country in Europe not to use scientific age-assessment methods and activist lawyers help the illegal immigrants fake their age, he will probably get away with it and may pop up in a classroom near you soon.’
