Investigation Finds French Police Used Ramming Tactics Against Migrant Boats Off Mayotte, Causing Dozens of Deaths
Lighthouse Reports and The Times say aggressive intercepts in the Indian Ocean have killed or left missing at least 24 people, while France tells Britain such tactics would violate law in the Channel
French border police have used aggressive manoeuvres, including ramming and circling small migrant boats, to stop crossings to the French Indian Ocean territory of Mayotte, an investigation by Lighthouse Reports in partnership with The Times found — tactics that have led to the deaths or disappearance at sea of at least 24 people.
The investigation, widely reported in British media, found that security forces operating off Mayotte — a French territory for 182 years — have repeatedly used violent intercept techniques against "kwassas," the local name for the small wooden boats frequently used on the short crossing from neighbouring Comoros. Survivors and court records cited in the inquiry describe boats deliberately overwhelmed by waves created by police vessels, collisions that tore vessels apart and at least one instance in which a migrant was struck by a police-boat propeller and later had both legs amputated.
Survivors interviewed by the reporters said children and infants have drowned. In the most recent incident cited, on July 15, two people were reported killed and seven missing, while others aboard sustained life-threatening injuries. A survivor identified as Zoubert, 25, said he saw a pregnant woman drown after a police boat struck their craft. Another survivor, Amahada, said officers turned on a searchlight, created waves around the kwassa and then collided with it at speed, leaving passengers in the water.
French authorities have long distinguished their approach in Mayotte from operations in the English Channel, telling British officials that similarly aggressive at-sea pushbacks in the Channel would violate maritime law and risk mass fatalities because boats there typically carry larger numbers of people. An anonymous official at the French State Secretariat for Maritime Affairs told investigators that "Mayotte is subject to constant migratory flows that destabilise the island. Necessity is the law," and added that deaths around Mayotte attract far less media and political attention than would equivalent losses in the Channel.
The investigation also highlighted internal and public signs that such tactics are used in Mayotte. A LinkedIn post by a territorial National Police director in Mayotte showed a police speedboat performing intercept drills and praised officers' professionalism. Former French officials and politicians have publicly warned against such methods; in 2024, then Secretary of State for the Sea Hervé Berville wrote that ramming and disruptive intercepts were "ineffective and even dangerous," advising they be ruled out because of risks to both crews and migrants.
Legal scrutiny has followed several deadly episodes. The first recorded fatality linked to aggressive intercepts near Mayotte dates to 2007, the investigation said. In 2021, officers discovered ten drowned migrants at one site. In 2019, a court found that the engine on a police boat involved in a collision exceeded legal limits and that the officers aboard did not have sufficient training; that case involved Farid Djassadi, who lost both legs after being thrown overboard.
The disclosures carry diplomatic and domestic political implications because France is reportedly drafting changes to its legal framework that could permit more assertive at-sea interventions in the Channel. The development comes as the United Kingdom faces legal and political obstacles to returning migrants to France. A recent High Court ruling barred UK ministers from sending a particular small-boat migrant back to France, a decision likely to encourage similar legal challenges and to complicate a bilateral returns agreement that British politicians have promoted as part of efforts to curb Channel crossings.
In France, some politicians and officials oppose extending Mayotte-style tactics to the Channel. They argue that violent manoeuvres could cause mass drownings on routes where boats carry many more people at once. French authorities say operations must comply with domestic and international maritime law and have defended efforts to manage irregular migration to overseas territories that face chronic arrivals and local tensions.
Human-rights groups and legal observers have long warned that so-called pushbacks and aggressive intercepts at sea can violate international law and put lives at risk. The Lighthouse Reports and The Times investigation adds to a body of reporting and legal findings that document repeated deadly incidents off Mayotte and renews calls from rights advocates and some politicians for transparent, accountable procedures for border enforcement at sea.
French and British officials did not immediately provide detailed public responses to the investigation's allegations beyond previously stated positions: that operations must respect the law and save lives where possible, and that cross-Channel cooperation is necessary to tackle organised people-smuggling. Lawyers for survivors and families of victims have signalled they may pursue legal action in national and international courts as scrutiny of maritime interception practices continues.