Two men have been jailed after only the first convictions in three months since French authorities adopted new powers to arrest suspected people smugglers on the water.
An 18-year-old Iranian, named only as Aram M., received an 18-month sentence for piloting a so-called ‘taxi boat’ – launched as a relatively empty vessel in a canal.
Smugglers planned to load the vessel up off a beach – with migrants wading out into the water to board – then set sail across the Channel.
A French prosecuting source said the men were ‘the first to be imprisoned following the adoption of the new maritime policy’.
The source said: ‘Such police interventions are solely taking place on calm canals (from where the boats are launched), and not on open sea, so this may be why there are so few arrests.’
A second man, Ahmed D., a 19-year-old Afghan who was on board the inflatable boat, was jailed for six months for assisting illegal migration. He has a previous conviction for the same offence.
The sentences were handed out at Dunkirk Criminal Court.
The so-called ‘maritime interception’ took place on the Aa canal, running through the northern coastal town of Gravelines.
The lack of prosecutions since the new French policy was adopted in December was condemned by Alp Mehmet, chairman of Migration Watch UK.
He said: ‘These stats show the tactic is just a gimmick. The French and Labour want to give the impression they are serious about wanting to stop the crossings and tackle the gangs but they are not.
‘It’s not a priority for them and neither is stopping the enormous cost to the British taxpayer. This figure is really poor. It’s really frustrating they are not doing anything to actually stop this problem. It’s disgraceful.’
The strategy was first used on January 17, when another dinghy was intercepted on the Aa canal at Gravelines.
One man prosecuted over that incident was acquitted by a judge.
Prosecutors had been seeking a jail sentence of up to ten months for the 18-year-old Sudanese man, accused of people smuggling after a boat was stopped carrying 40 people.
The teen, named only as Hassan, was allowed to walk free after the hearing. His defence argued he was a paying passenger, not a smuggler – and the judge deemed prosecution evidence was insufficient.
While just two interventions have taken place on water, some 1,200 migrants crossed to the south of England from France so far in March alone, bringing the 2026 total to 3,409, according to Home Office figures.
Gendarmes carried out the arrests of Aram M. and Ahmed D. using powers introduced after furious complaints by the British.
The French previously insisted that arrests on water were too dangerous, and contravened maritime law.
Aram M. was jailed and banned from France for five years on his release.
The court heard the teenager was caught steering the dinghy towards the English Channel on March 3. He threw his mobile phone in the water moments before his arrest.
In a fast-track trial, Aram M. and Ahmed D. were prosecuted and sentenced just three days later on March 6.
Aram M. claimed he was given the steering job in return for a free passage to England – but was found guilty of ‘aiding and abetting illegal entry and residence in France’,** **a crime punishable with up to five years in prison.
The court heard Ahmed D., had previously been arrested in the Dunkirk area in June 2024 resulting in a conviction for ‘assisting in illegal immigration’.
He spent six months in prison, before travelling to Germany, and then returning to France, despite a five-year banning order from the country.
Ahmed D. told the court he was not a people smuggler, but a genuine asylum seeker who wanted to get to Britain.
This time, he was sentenced to another six months in prison, and his banning order from France was raised to 10-years.
Despite Ahmed D.’s youth, prosecutors said his punishment should be ‘particularly strong’ because of his previous conviction.
Ten other people who were on Aram M. and Ahmed D.’s boat when it was stopped remain in administrative custody but so far have not been charged with criminal offences.
France agreed to the new tactics of arresting suspected smugglers on the water at a summit in the London last July between President Emmanuel Macron and Sir Keir Starmer.
The British government had hoped that the policy would lead to a vast increase in the number of smugglers arrested, and that boats would be turned back.
