- British far-right activists increased Channel patrols.
- They travel to northern France frequently.
- Aim to deter migrants from crossing.
Social media videos show members of the far-right group Raise the Colours in Normandy confronting alleged undocumented migrants and claiming to have discovered and destroyed small boats that would have crossed the Channel.
As a "civilian border control force," the activists claim that their goal is to "stop an invasion of illegal immigrants" into the United Kingdom.
They contend that little action is being taken by the UK and France to prevent illegal immigration across the Channel.
However, organizations that support migrants claim that the group is "encouraging violent and xenophobic practices" due to the French and British authorities' inaction.
“These are people who come to France with the express intention of committing crimes such as harassment. They are a threat to public order,"
said a spokesperson from L’Auberge Des Migrants, one of nine associations that issued a statement calling for France and the UK to take action against the group.
“The measures that are being taken [by the authorities] are totally inadequate in view of the real threats that members of this far-right group pose,”
they added.
With 37,000 individuals crossing the English Channel in 2024, one of the highest yearly numbers in the previous ten years—it has emerged as the main point of entry for illegal immigration into the UK over the last ten years.
The numbers are generally comparable throughout Europe, where the number of unauthorized maritime arrivals has increased dramatically since 2015, particularly in Italy, Spain, and Greece.
In the UK, the tiny boats, that is, the inflatable boats frequently used to transport migrants between Calais and Dover have emerged as a particularly contentious subject.
For years, the far right in Britain has promoted the idea that the boats are full of criminals who are a threat to British society, particularly women and children.
According to Tim Bale, a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London, a "significant minority" of UK voters now associate the small boats with the notion "that the UK government has lost control of its borders, and that many of those trying to get into the country are from countries whose culture and religion is seen as alien and dangerous."
With Keir Starmer's government outlining a number of measures to discourage illicit Channel crossings, the topic has also begun to dominate mainstream politics amid the growing popularity of the right-wing party Reform UK.
Over the summer, Raise the Colours led a movement to cover the UK with national flags in response to growing anti-immigration sentiment.
Although the UK's extreme right has a long history of exploiting national flags as a symbol to further its ideals, the group has denied that the flagging effort is an attempt to spread racist propaganda.
According to Paul Jackson, a lecturer at the University of Northampton studying the history of radicalism and extremism, these include "issues such as managing borders, criticizing government policies around immigration and broad patriotic themes."
Aaron Winter, a senior sociology lecturer at Lancaster University, noted that the flagging campaign has been carried out "in ways that almost stake a nativist claim onto neighborhoods and is used to intimidate people, explicitly targeting migrants."
The organization has been documenting trips to France on the internet for the past few months, including livestreams of members hiding in sand dunes to observe activities in the Channel at night and posing as authorized journalists to confront suspected illegal migrants.
A video of a member wading into the shallows and yelling that suspected undocumented migrants on a boat in the distance are "potential rapists" and "murderers" was uploaded to the group's social media channel in early November.
The group declared in late November that it will intensify its operations in France under the code name "Overlord," which also refers to the Battle of Normandy, in which over 160,000 allied troops landed in France to start the liberation of Western Europe during World War II.
Another video depicts the group's leaders being halted by French authorities to verify their identities before being let to proceed.
“Within ten seconds they opened the window of their vehicle to continue openly harassing the migrants, even though the police were just ten metres behind them,”
said the spokesperson from L’Auberge Des Migrants.
“There is a striking discrepancy. The migrants, who are covered by international protections, are constantly being checked, expelled and dispersed [by the police]. And, yet, when far-right groups suddenly turn up, nothing is done. These people move around the coastline completely freely, harassing exiles live on social networks,”
they said.
On December 5, French police held members of Raise the Colours for a few hours before releasing them.
According to the group's web claims, 5,500 people have shown a willingness to travel to France to "stop the boats." It has called for donations, drones, thermal cameras, stab-proof vests, encrypted radios, and volunteers.
What legal actions have French authorities taken against these activists?
French authorities have responded to British far-right activists' conditioning in northern France with limited but targeted legal measures, primarily identity checks, detentions and examinations rather than wide executions.
Police have conducted identity verifications and temporary detentions of individualities from groups like Raise the Colours during sand details near Calais and Dunkirk, with some released after warnings; no mass apprehensions reported as of December 11, 2025.
Authorities appertained incidents involving alleged boat damage, importunity of settlers or aid workers to prosecutors for review under charges of irritated violence, detest speech and public order offenses, though issues remain pending amid complaints of lenient enforcement.