https://www.theguardian.com

  • Armed police threatened to arrest Kent protester for holding Palestinian flag
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/17/armed-police-threatened-to-arrest-kent-protester-for-holding-palestinia

    Armed police threatened a peaceful protester with arrest under the Terrorism Act for holding a Palestinian flag and having signs saying “Free Gaza” and “Israel is committing genocide”, accusing her of supporting a proscribed organisation.

    Officers told Laura Murton, 42, that her demonstration in Canterbury, Kent, on Monday evening expressed views supportive of Palestine Action, which was banned under terrorism legislation earlier this month.

    Murton said neither of her signs mentioned Palestine Action. When asked directly whether she supported any proscribed organisations, she replied: “I do not.”

    In the encounter, which she filmed, one officer told her: “Mentioning freedom of Gaza, Israel, genocide, all of that all come under proscribed groups, which are terror groups that have been dictated by the government.”

    He went on to say that the phrase “Free Gaza” was “supportive of Palestine Action”, adding it was an offence “to express an opinion or belief that is supportive of a proscribed organisation, namely Palestine Action is an offence under section 12(1A) of the Terrorism Act”. The officer told her she had committed that offence.

  • Des Afghans craignent pour leur vie après une fuite massive de données des autorités britanniques
    https://www.france24.com/fr/asie-pacifique/20250716-afghans-craignent-pour-vie-apr%C3%A8s-fuite-massive-donn%C3%A9es-

    La divulgation accidentelle des données de 19 000 Afghans ayant aidé les forces britanniques plonge une partie des personnes concernées et leurs familles dans l’angoisse des représailles de la part des Taliban. Car si certaines ont été discrètement évacuées par le Royaume-Uni depuis l’année dernière, les autres dénoncent un sentiment d’abandon.

    #Royaume-Uni #données_personnelles #fichage #Afghans #talibans

  • « Un camp de concentration » : Ehud Olmert fustige le projet de « ville humanitaire » à Gaza lancé par le gouvernement israélien
    Premier ministre du pays de 2006 à 2009, le septuagénaire pointe un nouveau risque d’escalade, lui qui dénonce déjà depuis plusieurs mois les crimes de crimes en cours dans l’enclave.
    Par Florian Bouhot – Le 14 juillet 2025 à 23h33 - Le Parisien
    https://www.leparisien.fr/international/israel/un-camp-de-concentration-ehud-olmert-fustige-le-projet-de-ville-humanitai
    https://www.leparisien.fr/resizer/tnJexa-CGOD6JVfbWOryQP0GkNI=/1200x675/cloudfront-eu-central-1.images.arcpublishing.com/leparisien/HB4X6ASPNQQDJRBQV23XFAIY7E.jpg

    Dans un entretien accordé ce lundi au Guardian, Ehud Olmert s’insurge contre cette perspective. « C’est un camp de concentration, je suis désolé », cingle celui qui fût Premier ministre d’Israël de 2006 à 2009 - et emprisonné plus d’un an pour corruption 2015.

    L’homme de 79 ans, issus des rangs de la droite, va même plus loin dans les colonnes du quotidien britannique : « Si les Palestiniens venaient être déportés dans la nouvelle ville humanitaire, alors on pourrait dire que cela fait partie d’un nettoyage ethnique ». « Cela n’est pas le cas pour l’instant », tempère-t-il, tout en ajoutant que cela serait « l’inévitable interprétation » de toute tentative de mettre sur pied un camp massant des centaines de milliers de personnes.
    (...)
    La riposte d’Israël aux attaques terroristes du 7-Octobre, perpétrées par le Hamas, lui semble démesurée et fragilise l’image de l’État hébreu à l’étranger. « Aux États-Unis, il y a de plus en plus d’expressions de haine d’Israël, observe-t-il. On se cache en disant : Ils sont antisémites. Je ne pense pas qu’il n’y ait que des antisémites. Je pense que beaucoup d’entre eux sont anti-Israël à cause de ce qu’ils voient à la télévision et sur les réseaux sociaux. » Et d’ajouter : « C’est douloureux mais c’est une réaction de gens qui disent : Hey, les gars vous avez franchi toutes les lignes possibles et imaginables ».

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/13/israel-humanitarian-city-rafah-gaza-camp-ehud-olmert

  • Defense Minister Says Israel Plans to Concentrate All Gaza’s Population in ’Humanitarian’ Zone Built on Rafah’s Ruins - Israel News - Haaretz.com
    https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2025-07-07/ty-article/.premium/defense-minister-israel-to-concentrate-all-gaza-population-in-rafah-humanitarian-zone/00000197-e56a-d1ad-ab97-e5ef764e0000

    Defense Minister Israel Katz said today (Monday) in a conversation with reporters that he has ordered the IDF to prepare a plan to establish a “humanitarian city” on the ruins of Rafah, where the entire population of the Gaza Strip will later be concentrated. According to Katz, the plan is to initially bring 600,000 Palestinians, mainly from the Mawasi area, into the “humanitarian city” that will be established. He said that the Palestinians will be admitted there after being inspected, and they will not be allowed to leave

    Le ministre de la Défense, Israël Katz, a déclaré aujourd’hui lors d’une conversation avec des journalistes qu’il avait ordonné à l’armée israélienne d’élaborer un plan pour établir une « cité humanitaire » sur les ruines de Rafah, où toute la population de la bande de Gaza sera ensuite concentrée. Selon Katz, le plan prévoit d’accueillir initialement 600 000 Palestiniens, principalement originaires de la région de Mawasi, dans la « cité humanitaire » qui sera créée. Il a précisé que les Palestiniens y seront admis après avoir été inspectés et qu’ils ne seront pas autorisés à en sortir.

  • The destruction of Palestine is breaking the world | Israel-Gaza war | The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-interactive/2025/jul/06/destruction-of-palestine-is-breaking-the-world

    The implications of this collapse are profound for international, regional and even domestic politics. Political dissent is repressed, political language is policed, and traditionally liberal societies are increasingly militarized against their own citizens.

    Many of us disregard how much has shifted in the last 20 months. But we are ignoring the collapse of the international system that has defined our lives for generations at our own collective peril.

    Les implications de cet effondrement sont profondes pour la politique internationale, régionale et même nationale. La dissidence politique est réprimée, le langage politique est surveillé et les sociétés traditionnellement libérales sont de plus en plus militarisées contre leurs propres citoyens.

    Beaucoup d’entre nous ne tiennent pas compte de ce qui a changé au cours des 20 derniers mois. Mais nous ignorons l’effondrement du système international qui a défini nos vies pendant des générations à nos propres risques collectifs

  • “Decisions are being made out of fear” #BBC and the #Gaza double standard | The Listening Post - YouTube
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZjaEjI-G4CY&pp=ygULSmF6ZWVyYSBiYmM%3D

    At Glastonbury, Britain’s biggest music festival, two artists called out Israel’s genocide in Gaza and accused the British government of complicity. On-stage remarks by one of them - Bob Vylan - plunged the country’s public broadcaster, the BBC, which livestreamed the performance, into yet another Gaza-shaped row.

  • Michael Madsen, star of Reservoir Dogs, Kill Bill and Donnie Brasco, dies aged 67
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jul/03/michael-madsen-death

    3.7.2025 by Catherine Shoard - The actor, best known for his collaborations with Quentin Tarantino, was found unresponsive in Los Angeles

    The actor Michael Madsen has died aged 67 at his home in Malibu, according to authorities and his representatives. No foul play is suspected, the sheriff’s department confirmed, after deputies responded to the Los Angeles county home following a call to the emergency services on Thursday morning.

    He was pronounced dead at 8.25am. In an email, Madsen’s manager, Ron Smith, confirmed his client had died from cardiac arrest.

    A statement from Smith and another manager, Susan Ferris, along with publicist Liz Rodriguez said:

    “In the last two years Michael Madsen has been doing some incredible work with independent film including upcoming feature films Resurrection Road, Concessions and Cookbook for Southern Housewives, and was really looking forward to this next chapter in his life.

    “Michael was also preparing to release a new book called Tears for My Father: Outlaw Thoughts and Poems, currently being edited. Michael Madsen was one of Hollywood’s most iconic actors, who will be missed by many.”

    Over a four-decade career, Madsen had won acclaim for his portrayals of often enigmatic and frequently wise-cracking tough guys in films including Kill Bill: Vol. 1, Reservoir Dogs, Thelma & Louise and Donnie Brasco.

    He also features in later Tarantino films including The Hateful Eight and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Other credits among the 346 listed on IMDb include The Doors, Free Willy, Species, Die Another Day, Sin City and Scary Movie 4.

    Madsen began his career in Chicago as part of the Steppenwolf Theatre company as as apprentice to John Malkovich before debuting on the big screen in the 1983 sci-fi WarGames. His global breakthrough came in 1992 when he played the menacing criminal Mr Blonde in Tarantino’s feature debut, Reservoir Dogs.

    Madsen’s performance won acclaim for its fleet-footed menace and unreadable joviality – despite the actor originally desiring the part of Mr Pink,(eventually played by Steve Buscemi), because it featured more scenes alongside his hero Harvey Keitel.

    Despite teaming up with Tarantino again for Kill Bill: Vol. 1 11 years later, Madsen missed out on a number of significant film roles that might have expanded the scope of his career, including the leads in LA Confidential and Natural Born Killers.

    Speaking to the Guardian in 2004, he expressed frustration with some fellow film-makers for passing him over for parts, as well as with what he perceived as a wider lack of care within the industry.

    “When I was really down and out,” he said, “and I was just ready to flatline, you would think that an element of Hollywood would try to hold you up, just keep you going. I mean, everybody pretty much knows that I’m a father. A lot of people have made a lot of money with me involved in their projects, so if only for that reason. But no – nothing was happening.”

    Madsen also ascribed the “patchiness” of his career to a being a man out of time. “Maybe I was just born in the wrong era,” he said. “I’m a bit of a throwback to the days of black-and-white movies. Those guys back then, they had a certain kind of directness about them. A lot of the screenplays, the plots were very simplistic – they gave rise to a type of antihero that maybe I suit better.”

    The actor also said he felt more at home with traditional male pursuits than in performance. “All the putting on makeup and dressing up in clothes,’ he says. ‘And you got to be a bit self-centred to pull it off. I guess it’s just the way I was brought up. For me, it’s more masculine to dig ditches or drive a tow truck.”

    The brother of actor Virginia Madsen, he was married three times and had seven children, one of whom pre-deceased him.

    Virginia Madsen paid tribute to her older brother on Thursday with a statement to Variety. The two mutually supported their careers over the years, often attending each other’s red carpets.

    “My brother Michael has left the stage,” Virginia wrote. “He was thunder and velvet. Mischief wrapped in tenderness. A poet disguised as an outlaw. A father, a son, a brother – etched in contradiction, tempered by love that left its mark.

    “We’re not mourning a public figure,” she continued. “We’re not mourning a myth – but flesh and blood and ferocious heart. Who stormed through life loud, brilliant, and half on fire. Who leaves us echoes – gruff, brilliant, unrepeatable – half legend, half lullaby.”

    “I’ll miss our inside jokes, the sudden laughter, the sound of him. I’ll miss the boy he was before the legend; I miss my big brother,” she concluded. “In time, we’ll share how we plan to celebrate his life – but for now, we stay close, and let the silence say what words can’t.”

    Numerous other friends, collaborators and Hollywood figures shared tributes in the wake of Madsen’s death. Vivica A Fox told the New York Post: “I had the pleasure of working with Michael Madsen on ‘Kill Bill’ & several other films! Michael was a talented man with an AMAZING on screen presence! My deepest condolences & prayers to his family.”

    Madsen was “one of my favorite actors I ever worked with”, Jennifer Tilly, his co-star in The Getaway, posted on X. “The Getaway was very early in my career and he made me feel safe and supported. He was wildly audacious and rambunctious with his character choices, and had a wicked sense of humor. I don’t recall ever laughing so much on a film set in my life. A huge talent. Gone too soon.”

    On Instagram, Madsen’s The Hateful Eight co-star Walton Goggins wrote: “Michael Madsen… this man… this artist… this poet… this rascal…Fucking ICON…. Aura like no one else. Ain’t enough words so I’ll just say this…. I love you buddy. A H8TER forever.”

    “Michael Madsen was a dream to work with,” wrote Rob Schneider on X along with a photo of Madsen guest-starring on his sitcom Real Rob in 2017. “A truly gifted actor & gentleman who made every person on the set comfortable; generous with his stories & with his infectious laughter.”

  • The Club World Cup that wasn’t: how fake highlights took over the internet - Using clever tactics and Messi clickbait, Egyptian creators racked up 14m views with highlights posted before kickoff. YouTube didn’t catch on until it was too late
    https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/jul/01/fake-club-world-cup-highlights-youtube-scam

    It was Thursday morning in America and something didn’t look right in the highlights of the Club World Cup match between Manchester City and Juventus.

    The video in front of me was the top result on both YouTube and Google Search’s video tab for the game in Orlando. More than 700,000 people had already watched the best moments of the riveting 3-2 matchup. And yet, footage showed City head coach Pep Guardiola all bundled up in a puffer jacket ill-suited to humid Florida summers.

    On a couple of occasions, the commentators on the video referred to the Juventus goalkeeper as Martin Dúbravka. He actually plays for Newcastle, a totally unrelated team that wears a black-and-white jersey similar to that worn by the Italian side.

    Oh, also? The match wasn’t on until several hours later.

  • Trump threatens to cut off New York City funds if Mamdani ‘doesn’t behave’
    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/29/trump-zohran-mamdani-nyc-funds

    Donald Trump on Sunday threatened to cut New York City off from federal funds if favored mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, “doesn’t behave himself” should he be elected.

    Mamdani, meanwhile, denied that he was – as the president said – a communist. But he reaffirmed his commitment to raise taxes on the wealthiest New Yorkers while saying: “I don’t think that we should have billionaires.”

    In an interview with Fox News host Maria Bartiromo, Trump argued that a Mamdani victory was “inconceivable” because he perceived the candidate to be “a pure communist”.

    He added: “Let’s say this – if he does get in, I’m going to be president, and he’s going to have to do the right thing, or they’re not getting any money. He’s got to do the right thing or they’re not getting any money.”

    More than $100bn flows to the city from the federal government through different entities and programs, according to the city’s comptroller last year.

  • ‘It’s a complete assault on free speech’: how Palestine Action was targeted for proscription as terrorists | Counter-terrorism policy | The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/ng-interactive/2025/jun/28/palestine-action-proscription-free-speech

    Ammori, a co-founder of Palestine Action, said she was finding it “very hard to absorb the reality of what’s happening here”. She said: “I don’t have a single conviction but if this goes through I would have co-founded what will be a terrorist organisation.”

    By “this” she means the UK government’s hugely controversial proposal to ban Palestine Action under anti-terrorism laws, placing it alongside the likes of Islamic State and National Action – the first time a direct action group would be classified in this way.

    If the group is proscribed next week, as is expected, being a member of or inviting support for Palestine Action will carry a maximum penalty of 14 years. Wearing clothing or publishing a logo that arouses reasonable suspicion that someone supports Palestine Action will carry a sentence of up to six months.

  • ‘They attack us without provocation’: West Bank town mourns its dead after settler raid | West Bank | The Guardian

    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/26/west-bank-town-kafr-malik-mourns-its-dead-israeli-settler-attack

    The men from Fatah arrived on Thursday morning, hours after the attack on Kafr Malik, to put out more flags along the main streets, adding bright primary colours to a mournful scene, but they did nothing to relieve the all-encompassing sense of helplessness.

    Three men from this central West Bank town, one a teenager, lay dead and several others were still in hospital after an attack by about 100 Israeli settlers on Wednesday evening. The men of Kafr Malik had run to its south-western edge to form a screen against the settlers and rescue women and children trapped in a house set alight by the masked attackers.

    #Palestine
    #Cisjordanie

  • I spent five years in Iran’s notorious Evin prison but when Israel bombed it I felt horror and fear
    https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/jun/24/five-years-iran-evin-prison-israel-bombed-fear

    Bombarder la.prison Evin n’est pas comme bombarder Auschwitz.

    24.6.2025 by Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe - Many held there are opponents of the repressive regime. Who is alive now? Who was killed? Were they just collateral damage?

    On Monday morning Israeli airstrikes struck the Evin prison’s gate, damaging the court adjacent to the prison and some of the wards, including the women’s political ward where I spent five years. The prison holds a large number of political prisoners and opponents of the Islamic Republic in Iran. Nobody seems to know what has happened to them.

    Since the bombing of Iran started 12 days ago, I have avoided the news and all requests for interviews. It has felt too sad. But as I was sitting at my desk, I saw the news about Evin popping up on my screen. My hands froze and I felt a shiver down my neck, just as when bad news landed back when I was held. After a couple of minutes I contacted my former Evin cellmates who are now outside to check if they knew anything. They were as horrified and scared as I was.

    We tried to get in touch with any of the families of prisoners we could find, to confirm their safety, but it was impossible. The ceiling had collapsed, there were reports of injuries and there were families shouting outside the walls. The UK does not even know how many British citizens are held in Evin, or where they have been moved. Meanwhile, Iran has started a tighter crackdown on civilians, including cutting the internet and making more arrests. Days are numb with helplessness and outrage.

    When I was in prison, we experienced earthquakes, twice. There were power cuts as a result and we had to sit in the dark. Candles were not allowed and the emergency power rarely worked. It was horrid. Some women sat together praying, some sat in morbid silence. It felt as if we had died and we were praying over our own deaths. It felt as if anything could happen to us at that moment and there was no rescue. Prisoners are not a priority to the outside world when disasters come, but their lives matter to their loved ones.

    Watching those prison doors being blown off felt surreal. I have walked in and out of that gate so many times, being taken to court or hospital, and always dreamed of the day when they would finally be opened and all prisoners would be set free from that place of oppression. So bringing down those gates might have seemed like a symbolic act for faraway media. But it did not feel like it made anyone safe inside. If anything, it took away lives. The crackdown from the Iranian authorities keen to reaffirm control feels as if it has only just begun.

    The Iranian people have suffered decades of crimes by the Islamic Republic, which has violated their basic human rights, incarcerated thousands of people and executed many for standing up for themselves. Many of those are in Evin.

    Back in 2022, I had a similar feeling when Evin was set on fire shortly after my freedom. It wasn’t joy but fear. I was desperate to get some news about my friends held there, terrified that something terrible would happen to them even as the prison burned. I asked a friend whose house overlooked Evin to video-call me and face the phone screen towards the window so that I could see the prison with my own eyes. There was no comfort in the flames, just fear of what was to come.

    For so many of my family and friends, it is that same fear now, watching the games of governments we do not trust and the demonstrations of power with a sudden silencing of the protections of law. As Iran falls apart, it is vulnerable people who are most exposed.

    Over the past 12 days, we have all been glued to our phones hoping that what we saw was just a wild nightmare we would wake up from. It has been a shock. It started as unlawful bombing of Iran by Israel, though no one seemed to say it was unlawful. It has now escalated into a proper war against Iran with US intervention and the rhetoric of regime change. The mission creep has been unnerving, even for those of us who have suffered at the hands of the Iranian regime. The silence of the international community, including the UK, on this point has been worrying.

    During my hostage case the UK’s reluctance to acknowledge the law and legal rights was frustrating for our family. But right now, the consequences are much greater. We run the risk of things getting much worse.

    When I returned to Britain, Keir Starmer was one of the first people to greet me and get a picture. Two years ago he invited me to his Westminster office with other British-Iranian women’s activists on International Women’s Day and promised that his government would stand up for human rights in Iran. In opposition, there was no equivocation. But in government, there has been much more equivocation around the UK’s commitment to international law. Even yesterday there was a dangerous reluctance from Starmer’s ministers to criticise the illegality of allies joining in Israel’s war on Iran. The consequences are felt all around Tehran by families caught between a bomb and a hard place. They have felt very alone.

    If Evin taught me anything, it was that freedom does not come from bombs and brutality, nor from clever stunts for the cameras. It lies in human connection and empathy. People in Iran, people across the Middle East – in prison and outside – could do with a bit more of that now.

    Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe is a British-Iranian dual national who was detained in Evin prison for five years

    #Iran #Teheran #Israel #guerre #prison

  • Trump caution on Iran strike linked to doubts over ‘bunker buster’ bomb, officials say | Iran | The Guardian
    https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/19/trump-caution-on-iran-strike-linked-to-doubts-over-bunker-buster-bomb-o


    A file image from 2023 of a GBU-57 bomb at Whiteman air base in Missouri. Donald Trump is assessing whether the ordnance would be enough to scupper Iran’s nuclear ambitions at its Fordow site.
    Photograph: AP

    Donald Trump has suggested to defense officials it would make sense for the US to launch strikes against Iran only if the so-called “bunker buster” bomb was guaranteed to destroy the critical uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, according to people familiar with the deliberations.

    Trump was told that dropping the GBU-57s, a 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bomb would effectively eliminate Fordow but he does not appear to be fully convinced, the people said, and has held off authorizing strikes as he also awaits the possibility that the threat of US involvement would lead Iran to talks.

    The effectiveness of GBU-57s has been a topic of deep contention at the Pentagon since the start of Trump’s term, according to two defense officials who were briefed that perhaps only a tactical nuclear weapon could be capable of destroying Fordow because of how deeply it is buried.


    Guardian graphic. Sources: Michael A. Levi, Cargenie Endowment for International Peace.
    US Air Force

    Trump is not considering using a tactical nuclear weapon on Fordow and the possibility was not briefed by defense secretary Pete Hegseth and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff Gen Dan Caine in meetings in the White House situation room, two people familiar with the matter said.

    But the defense officials who received the briefing were told that using conventional bombs, even as part of a wider strike package of several GBU-57s, would not penetrate deep enough underground and that it would only do enough damage to collapse tunnels and bury it under rubble.

    Those in the briefing heard that completely destroying Fordow, which Israeli intelligence estimates to go down as far as 300ft (90 metres), would require the US to soften the ground with conventional bombs and then ultimately drop a tactical nuclear bomb from a B2 bomber to wipe out the entire facility, a scenario Trump is not considering.

    The assessments were made by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), a component of the defense department that tested the GBU-57, as it reviewed the limitations of US military ordinance against a number of underground facilities.

    The situation underscores the complex nature of such a strike and what success would entail: dropping GBU-57s would likely set back Iran’s ability to obtain weapons-grade uranium for up to a few years, but not end the programme completely.

  • Récit « Je n’avais jamais vu ça de la part de la police » : près de #Dunkerque, des migrants interceptés dans l’eau à coups de #bombes_lacrymogènes

    Plusieurs agents armés, munis de boucliers et de casques lourds, se sont retrouvés au milieu des vagues à #Gravelines, le 13 juin. Si les syndicats de police y voient une opération « exceptionnelle », les associations craignent un changement de méthode pour empêcher les traversées de la Manche.

    Spray au poivre à la main, de l’eau jusqu’à la taille, le policier asperge plusieurs migrants. Objectif : empêcher le petit groupe de monter à bord d’une embarcation en direction de l’Angleterre. La scène se déroule sur la plage de Gravelines (Nord), à quelques kilomètres de Dunkerque, vendredi 13 juin au petit matin. Peu après 5 heures du matin, raconte à franceinfo, clichés et métadonnées à l’appui, le photographe britannique Dan Kitwood, qui a assisté à l’intervention. « C’est vite devenu assez chaotique, avec les gens qui criaient et les enfants qui pleuraient », relate-t-il. Arrivé une heure plus tôt sur les lieux, il remonte le fil de cette opération d’#interception rare, les forces de l’ordre n’ayant pas pour habitude d’intervenir aussi loin dans l’eau avec des équipements aussi lourds.

    « Peu avant 5 heures, les premiers migrants sont sortis des dunes. Ils étaient une trentaine, avec au moins cinq enfants, dont deux en bas âge », raconte-t-il, en se basant sur ses photos. Parmi eux, une poignée d’hommes n’a pas de gilet de sauvetage. Ils sont les seuls à cacher leur visage. « Probablement membres d’un réseau de passage plus large », se dit le photojournaliste. Dix minutes plus tard, une embarcation apparaît sur le rivage et s’approche du groupe de migrants dans l’eau. Depuis les dunes, une dizaine de policiers surgit alors. Ils font partie d’une compagnie d’intervention, reconnaissables aux bandes bleues sur leur casque. Certains courent droit dans la mer, jusqu’à être à moitié immergés, « avec l’intention de sortir [les migrants] de l’eau », explique Dan Kitwood.

    Afin de tenir les agents éloignés, certains hommes les éclaboussent. « Il y a aussi eu une altercation avec un policier muni d’un bouclier qui avait du mal à rester stable dans l’eau plus profonde, avec tout son équipement », relate le photographe. « C’est à ce moment-là qu’un autre agent a sorti son spray devant les personnes les plus agressives », ajoute-t-il. Finalement, les policiers, « qui n’ont rien pu faire », sortent de l’eau, déstabilisés par le courant et le trop grand nombre de migrants. Une famille « prise dans le gaz » est aussi contrainte de regagner la #plage, où d’autres migrants venus faire diversion sont chassés à coup de grenades #lacrymogènes.

    « C’était dangereux pour tout le monde »

    Malgré cette intervention musclée dans l’eau, la moitié du groupe parvient à prendre la mer ce matin-là. Pour Dan Kitwood, familier de la crise migratoire dans le Nord de la France, les policiers « n’ont pas fait un usage disproportionné de la force, et n’ont pas été trop agressifs ». « Ils ont tenté quelque chose de nouveau, et ça n’a pas fonctionné ». Reste que la tactique d’entrer dans l’eau avec autant d’équipement est inédite. « Je n’avais jamais vu ça de la part de la #police », assure le photographe, qui estime que « c’était dangereux pour tout le monde », migrants comme policiers. « Vous pouvez imaginer ce qu’il se passerait si un agent venait à glisser et se retrouver sous l’eau, avec le poids de son bouclier ou de quelqu’un sur lui... »

    Depuis 2018 et l’augmentation continue des traversées de migrants par bateau vers le Royaume-Uni, face à une frontière parmi les plus surveillées et sécurisées au monde, les forces de l’ordre ont renforcé leur présence sur les côtes françaises afin d’empêcher les départs et de gêner les passeurs à terre. « Chaque jour, 1 200 effectifs sont mobilisés » sur les 150 km de littoral entre Dunkerque et Le Touquet, rappelait le 27 février le ministre de l’Intérieur, Bruno Retailleau, cité par ICI Nord (Nouvelle fenêtre). Sur ces agents, « 730 sont financés par le Royaume-Uni », ajoutait-il, en vertu du #traité_de_Sandhurst signé entre les deux pays il y a sept ans.

    En plus de démanteler les campements, policiers et gendarmes ont souvent été aperçus sur les plages pour barrer la route des migrants ou pour lacérer les boudins des canots gonflables. Comme le révélait Le Monde(Nouvelle fenêtre) et plusieurs médias étrangers dans une enquête en mars 2024, des bateaux de gendarmerie ont expérimenté des techniques d’interception en mer, autorisées par les directives préfectorales, qui imposent toutefois la plus grande #prudence. Mais au bord des plages, la zone grise demeure et les interceptions dans l’eau avec un tel équipement ne font pas partie des méthodes habituelles des forces de l’ordre, observent plusieurs acteurs locaux.

    La crainte d’un « #changement_de_doctrine »

    « Nous avions déjà eu des témoignages d’opérations #dans_l'eau, mais jamais aussi profondément », explique à franceinfo Charlotte Kwantes, responsable plaidoyer et communication de l’association Utopia56, qui apporte une aide humanitaire aux migrants du secteur. « On se demande désormais jusqu’où le gouvernement français va aller, sous pression du Royaume-Uni », déplore-t-elle, en faisant référence aux récentes déclarations du Home Office, le ministère de l’Intérieur britannique, qui a par exemple appelé (Nouvelle fenêtre) le 31 mai à « exhorter les Français à apporter les changements nécessaires à leur politique opérationnelle » afin que les autorités puissent intervenir « dans les eaux peu profondes le plus rapidement possible ».

    Pour Charlotte Kwantes, « difficile de ne pas faire le rapprochement » entre les méthodes vues à Gravelines et le « changement de doctrine » réclamé par #Bruno_Retailleau fin février lors de sa visite (Nouvelle fenêtre) dans la région. Le ministre de l’Intérieur préconisait alors des interceptions en pleine mer, et ce, jusqu’à 300 mètres des côtes. « Ils veulent rendre la #mer infranchissable, mais c’est impossible. Et ça passera forcément par des moyens violents », juge Charlotte Kwantes.

    L’annonce ne passe pas non plus chez les sauveteurs du littoral, très souvent sollicités pour intervenir sur des naufrages. « On court vers des drames, les interceptions d’embarcations fragiles sont extrêmement dangereuses (...) encore plus si les personnes à bord ont reçu du gaz lacrymogène ou sont blessées au moment du départ », alerte un bénévole local de la Société nationale des sauveteurs en mer (SNSM), qui préfère rester anonyme pour évoquer « cette situation très tendue ».

    « Très difficile d’adapter les moyens »

    Contactées par franceinfo, ni la préfecture maritime de la Manche et de la mer du Nord (Prémar) ni la préfecture du Nord n’ont réagi. Mais aux yeux des syndicats de police, les agents photographiés dans la mer le 13 juin se trouvaient dans les clous. « C’est vrai que ça peut impressionner, cet équipement lourd dans l’eau, reconnaît Marc Hocquard, délégué général adjoint de l’Unsa Police. Mais il faut voir ce que les collègues se prennent comme projectiles lorsqu’ils interviennent sur ces situations. »

    Pour repousser les forces de l’ordre, les passeurs et certains migrants jettent des pierres « et emportent avec eux des barres de fer », assure-t-il. Un constat partagé par Julien Soir, délégué du syndicat Alliance dans les Hauts-de-France. « Ce matériel n’est peut-être pas le plus adapté, mais c’est tout ce que les collègues ont pour se protéger », justifie-t-il, sans écarter les risques de chute ou de noyade pour les agents. « L’intervention de Gravelines reste de l’ordre de l’exceptionnel », insiste-t-il.

    Pour les deux responsables syndicaux, la situation sur les côtes du Nord et du Pas-de-Calais a atteint « un niveau de violence très élevé ». « Mais il n’y a pas de changement de doctrine pour l’instant, ni de groupe de travail sur ce sujet » au sein de la police, réfute Marc Hocquard. « Nos collègues sont juste très engagés, surtout qu’il y a quelques jours, on nous reprochait d’avoir laissé partir un bateau soi-disant sans rien faire », justifie-t-il.

    De là à équiper les policiers de nouveaux moyens, voire de renforcer les brigades maritimes, il y a encore du chemin, prévient Julien Soir. « Selon la météo, il peut y avoir 50 personnes ou alors 1 000 qui tentent de traverser sur une journée, rappelle-t-il. C’est très difficile d’adapter les moyens face à un tel delta. » Surtout que, face aux forces de l’ordre, « les réseaux font sans cesse évoluer leurs techniques pour trouver un moyen de passer... »

    https://www.franceinfo.fr/monde/europe/migrants/recit-je-n-avais-jamais-vu-ca-de-la-part-de-la-police-pres-de-dunkerque-d
    #Calais #violence #violences_policières #frontière #Manche #migrations #réfugiés #France #Angleterre #UK #militarisation_des_frontières

    ping @karine4 @isskein

    • Louis Witter, 13 juin

      https://x.com/LouisWitter/status/1933568565023477981

      Cette image de Jack Taylor, photojournaliste pour le Times, a été prise ce matin sur les côtes françaises, non loin de Calais.

      Pour la première fois, des policiers français empêchent directement dans l’eau le départ de bateaux d’exilés, contrevenant ainsi au droit de la mer.

      #police

    • French plans to stop #small_boats will lead to more deaths, says charity

      French charity to challenge new Channel migrant interception plans in European courts.

      Plans by French police to enter the sea to stop small boats carrying UK-bound asylum seekers willcause more deaths and be challenged in the European courts, a French charity has said.

      Arthur Dos Santos, the coordinator of the refugee charity Utopia 56, said there would be an increase in the number of people who would take “desperate” measures to reach the UK.

      The official, based in Calais, said the charity was examining the possibility of a legal challenge in the European courts to stop the tactics.

      Government sources have told the Guardian that French police would be authorised to tackle boats within 300 metres of the shore and in nearby waterways.

      The strategy aims to be ready in time for the Franco-British summit, which begins on 8 July. This coincides with the state visit to London of Emmanuel Macron, the French president.

      Over the past few days, French police have waded into the sea to stop asylum seekers from boarding boats, increasing speculation that police are already using the tactic.

      In one incident this week at Gravelines beach near Dunkirk, officers were shown waist-deep in water, using CS gas, riot shields and batons, as they attempted to force a boat to return to the beach.

      Dos Santos said the French plan to harden its tactics against asylum-seekers and smugglers would result in more deaths.

      “When police enter the sea, it will cause more deaths, more people will drown as they try to get away before being caught and forced back to the beach. There will be more violence, as some people fight back, and the people attempting to reach England will find other ways to try to get to the UK. This will not stop them, but it will make the crossings much more dangerous,” he said.

      The scheme is intended to give the French authorities the power to halt dinghies that “taxi” up to beaches from nearby waterways. Until now, guidelines prevent French police from intervening offshore unless it is to rescue passengers in distress. In practice, the policy means officers can stop boats leaving the beach by puncturing them, but are restricted once they are in the water.

      Dos Santos said the tactic would face legal challenges in the European courts, with lawyers examining human rights laws and the UN convention on the law of the sea.

      “This policy will be taken to the European courts. We will look very closely at this, as will other organisations,” he said.

      A British charity that operates in France told the Guardian two weeks ago it planed to explore possible legal challenges to stop the tactic.

      Steve Smith, the chief executive of Care4Calais, said: “When the last Tory government tried to do pushbacks in the Channel, Care4Calais initiated a legal challenge and won. Any attempt to introduce interceptions in French waters must face the same level of resistance.”

      In 2024, 73 people died trying to cross the Channel in small boats, more than in the previous six years combined. Nine people this year have so far been reported dead or missing in the Channel.

      Nearly 17,000 people have crossed in small boats so far in 2025, according to Home Office figures, higher than at the same point in 2022, the overall record year for crossings. On Wednesday, Downing Street acknowledged that the situation in the Channel was “deteriorating”.

      The French police union Unity has expressed concern that officers could face legal action if people die during an intervention.

      https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025/jun/20/french-plans-to-stop-small-boats-will-lead-to-more-deaths-says-charity
      #mortalité

    • Migrants dans la Manche : le Royaume-Uni salue le « durcissement » des interventions des forces de l’ordre françaises
      https://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2025/07/05/migrants-dans-la-manche-le-royaume-uni-salue-le-durcissement-des-interventio


      Des gendarmes français conduisent une voiturette près de migrants qui montent à bord d’un bateau de passeurs pour tenter de traverser la Manche au large de la plage d’Hardelot, à Neufchâtel-Hardelot (Pas-de-Calais), le 30 juin 2025. SAMEER AL-DOUMY / AFP

      Des images diffusées vendredi sur la BBC, tournées sur une plage, montrent des membres des forces de l’ordre françaises aller dans l’eau peu profonde jusqu’à un bateau pneumatique avec de nombreux migrants à son bord, parmi lesquels des enfants, et le crever à coups de cutter.
      « Ce que nous avons vu ce matin était un moment important, a réagi un porte-parole du premier ministre britannique, Keir Starmer. Nous saluons l’action des forces de l’ordre françaises pour intervenir dans les eaux peu profondes, et ce que vous avez vu ces dernières semaines est un durcissement de leur approche. » « Nous voyons de nouvelles tactiques utilisées pour perturber ces bateaux avant qu’ils ne commencent leur voyage », a poursuivi le porte-parole. « Avec tous les autres leviers que le gouvernement active, nous pensons que cela peut avoir un impact majeur pour mettre fin aux tactiques utilisées par ces gangs » de passeurs, a-t-il ajouté.