THIS is the moment a migrant wearing a life jacket joined a mob hurling rocks at French riot cops yards away from the shore.
The shocking clashes between migrants and cops were caught on camera while small fires are alight in the road near a park in Gravelines in France.
PAMigrants including one with an orange life jacket (right) clash with police officers in Gravelines, France[/caption]
PAFrench riot cops had their hands full during the clashes[/caption]
PARocks were hurled while fires blazed in the background[/caption]
PAPolice officers dressed in riot gear had their shields ready[/caption]
Footage showed a group throwing rocks from afar in the direction of the officers in the northern coastal town early on Friday morning.
One man was spotted in pictures wearing a bright orange life jacket as the chaotic scenes unfolded.
The scene between the men and the Gendarmerie and Police Nationale officers, who were equipped with shields, helmets and tear gas, lasted for about 20 minutes at around 5.30am.
Rocks were seen being hurled as fires burned in the background near a park.
It came after migrants were filmed running into the water and boarding a dinghy at Gravelines beach on Thursday morning.
The large group were pictured trying to board the dinghy on the beach of Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais.
Around 40 people, believed to be about half of the full group that scrambled over the sands, left the coast of France.
French authorities in an inflatable boat out at sea approached the overcrowded dinghy, passing those on board lifejackets.
No police were seen on the beach when the groups of people came out of the sand dunes and attempted to board the black inflatable boat.
More than 22,500 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel so far in 2025, a record for this point in the year.
It comes after a new migrant deal was agreed between the UK and France in a bid to tackle the small boats crisis.
Last week, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed a one in, one out migrant returns deal in a bid to crack down on the crossings and the people smuggling gangs who operate them.
But France will be able to choose which migrants to take back – prompting fears that the UK will be stuck with dangerous criminals.
The details of each migrant selected for return will be given to France, allowing it to reject those with a criminal record or deemed a security risk.
Both France and the UK will have a veto over which of the small boat migrants they take in.
Britain will take into account if the migrants have a connection to the country and if they have lived here before.
There may be an uptick in migrants stowing away in cars and lorries, or taking more dangerous routes into the country.
The PM hailed the “groundbreaking” returns’ scheme as “aggressive” – but admitted it was merely a pilot plan that would deal with just a fraction of the migrants trying to cross the Channel every day.
Sir Keir also met with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz yesterday where he also praised Berlin’s plans to strengthen laws to disrupt small boat crossings by the end of the year.
PAA one in, one out migrant returns deal was recently agreed[/caption]
PAThe tense confrontation lasted for about 20 minutes[/caption] Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
