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16-11-2025
PARIS: France has banned 10 British anti-migrant activists for attempting to stop migrants and asylum seekers from crossing into the United Kingdom on small boats, the French Ministry of Interior has announced.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said it had been alerted to the actions of activists with the so-called “Raise the Colors” group, “searching for and destroying small boats” and engaging in “propaganda activity” on the northern French coast.
It issued a ban against 10 Raise the Colors activists on Tuesday, effectively banning them from entering and residing in France, the ministry said.
“Our rule of law is non-negotiable,” French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez wrote on social media. “Violent or hate-inciting actions have no place on our territory.”
The French authorities did not immediately name the 10 people targeted by the ban but French authorities have opened an investigation over an alleged “aggravated assault” on migrants in September in a coastal area near the northern city of Dunkirk.
Four men carrying British and English flags verbally and physically assaulted a group of migrants in Grand-Fort-Philippe on the night of September 9 to 10, telling them they were not welcome in England, a charity working with migrants told media.
In a statement shared on social media, Raise the Colors said it had not received any “formal notification” from the French authorities regarding a ban.
“Raise the Colors has always maintained that its activities must remain peaceful and within the law. The organization does not support violence or any unlawful activity,” the statement said. Far-right activists in the UK have seized on years of migrant and asylum seeker crossings from France via the English Channel to advance a hardline, anti-immigration agenda.
Last year, far-right groups rallied in cities and towns across the UK, demanding that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government stop housing asylum seekers at hotels.
In July, data showed more than 25,000 people had crossed the English Channel into the UK by that point of the year, the fastest pace of arrivals since record-keeping began in 2018.
In total, more than 41,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats in 2025, an increase from the previous year but fewer than the record set in 2022, when more than 45,000 people made the crossing, according to the Home Office.
In July, last year, More than 25,000 people have crossed the English Channel into the United Kingdom so far this year, marking the fastest pace of arrivals since records began in 2018 and piling pressure on the UK’s Labour government as anti-immigration sentiment is stoked by the political right wing.
Figures released on Thursday show that nearly 900 refugees and migrants made the crossing in 13 small boats on Wednesday alone, bringing the total number of arrivals in 2025 to 25,436. It’s a perilous journey that has resulted in dozens of deaths over the years.
The milestone is likely to intensify political scrutiny over Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s handling of undocumented migration. His government has pledged tougher action on smuggling networks, with Starmer vowing to “smash the gangs” responsible for transporting people across the Channel.
Opposition politicians have seized on the latest numbers to criticise Labour’s approach.
“Almost 900 people crossed the Channel yesterday, meaning 25,000 people, mainly young men, have crossed the Channel this year. (And) 2025 is the worst year on record so far, and the Labour Government are doing nothing to stop the crossings,” said Conservative Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp. (Int’l News Desk)
