- On April 1st, law enforcement authorities evacuated young migrants who had set up their tents along the banks of the Seine after being expelled from a Parisian performance hall on March 18th. Although an appeal was filed to halt the operation, the Paris Administrative Court rejected it on March 29th, considering that the installation of tents on the Seine’s banks posed a danger both to their occupants and to passersby.
- The hearings of the British commission of inquiry into the shipwreck of November 24, 2021, in which 31 people lost their lives, ended on March 27, highlighting the shortcomings of the French and British rescue services. At the same time, a trial took place in France, where seven militaries were accused of failing to assist a person in danger. A report with recommendations will soon be submitted to the British Secretary of State for Transport.
- On 24 March, a ninth death was recorded in the Manche since the beginning of 2025. It is the body of an Eritrean woman aged about 30 that was found on a beach near Calais.
- On March 22, in the columns of the Journal du Dimanche, Gérald Darmanin, Minister of Justice, announced a new circular directly addressed to prosecutors and prison directors to simplify the deportation of foreign detainees to their countries of origin.
- On the night of 19 to 20 March, the Regional Operational Centre for Surveillance and Rescue (CROSS) intervened to rescue a boat in the English Channel that was carrying 40 people. However, one person lost his life, bringing the number of deaths in only 24 hours to two.
- On 19 March, a man trying to reach the United Kingdom was found dead in the English Channel. Another migrant, a 16-year-old boy, was rescued and hospitalized in a state of hypothermia.
- On 18 March, the Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, expressed his great satisfaction following the adoption by the right of two bills aimed at restricting the rights of migrants. These laws provide in particular for extending the maximum period of administrative detention of foreigners and introducing a “national preference” for access to social benefits. These anti-immigration measures testify to a discriminatory and unequal policy.
- Following an order from the Paris police prefect published on March 17, 400 migrants were forced to leave the Gaîté lyrique, a Parisian theater, on Tuesday, March 18. The Belleville Park Youth Collective launched a call for mobilization on Tuesday morning on social networks to denounce this unresolved eviction, this eviction of shame. The police intervened violently, using tear gas to disperse and silence the voices of the demonstrators.
- On March 13, France 24 reported that under the new immigration law adopted in France, foreigners will now have to take a French exam to be able to stay in the country. This measure affects tens of thousands of people, who risk deportation if they fail to reach a certain level of language.
- On March 8, the newspaper Le Point reported that the number of visas for France issued to Algerians had decreased by 28% compared to January 2024. It would therefore seem that the diplomatic crisis between France and Algeria is already having consequences on the migratory flow, although the restrictive measures on immigration have not yet come into force.
- After more than four years of struggle, the associations of Calais have won their case against the authorities’ attempts to obstruct them, the Administrative Court of Appeal having annulled several prefectural decrees prohibiting the distribution of food and drink by non-mandated associations. This legal victory, which could serve as a precedent, condemns the State to pay 4,000 euros to associations and could prevent future similar bans in other cities.
