France is planning to splash tens of thousands of pounds of UK taxpayers’ money on a fence to keep migrants away from the homes of local residents in a small town near Calais. Officials in Gravelines are considering building a 1,000-yard long and 6½ feet tall barrier to stop asylum seekers from prowling around the gardens of local people.
The town is renowned for being one of the places where migrants gather before boarding boats for the UK. Residents have complained about the rowdy behaviour of migrants living in makeshift camps close to their homes. They claim the refugees dump waste, start fires and regularly row – all of which “disturbs their tranquility”.
Moreover, their presence is allegedly scaring locals from letting their children go outside and play.
The fence will cost between €100,000 and €150,000 (£88,000 to £132,000) and a purchase order is set to be signed imminently try by local authorities.
It will be paid for with UK money that has been provided to fund French coastal patrols designed to stop illegal migrant crossings – the so-called Sandhurst Treaty.
A local council source told The Sun: “The decision has been made to fence off land backing on to residential properties, and it’s happened because people were worried. The cost of the project is coming from British funds.”
The fence will enclose part of Polder Park, where migrants live in temporary camps, waiting for their ride to the UK.
Bertrand Ringot, Mayor of Gravelines, said: “Once they start causing disturbance or damage I have to start putting up fences.”
The Sandhurst Treaty was signed in 2018 and provides a legal framework for broader cooperation on border and migration issues.
Since 2019 cooperation has focused on small boat crossings, which have become the predominant recorded method of irregular arrival in the UK since 2020.
Under a three-year deal made in March 2023, the UK agreed to provide €541 million (around £476 million) between 2023/24 and 2025/26. France agreed to make an unspecified “substantial and continuing” contribution.
In February 2025 the two countries agreed to extend the cooperation until 2027 and to redirect over €8 million of existing funding in support of some “new, stronger enforcement plans”.
