The minister said “acts that incite violence or hatred will not be tolerated” in France, where “Raise the Colours” activists are banned.
Published January 14, 2026
France’s interior ministry has announced that it has banned 10 British anti-immigration activists for trying to prevent migrants and asylum seekers from entering the UK in small boats.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said it was alert to the actions of activists from the so-called “Raise the Colors” group, who were carrying out “search and destruction of small boats” and “propaganda activities” on France’s northern coast.
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The ministry announced on Tuesday that it had issued banning orders against 10 Raise the Colors activists, effectively banning them from entering or residing in France.
“Our rule of law is non-negotiable,” French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez wrote on social media. “Violence or incitement to hatred has no place on our territory.”
French authorities did not immediately release the names of the 10 people targeted by the ban.
But French authorities have opened an investigation into an alleged “aggravated assault” against migrants in a coastal area near the northern city of Dunkirk in September.
On the night of September 9-10, four men holding British and British flags verbally and physically assaulted a group of migrants at Grand Fort Philippe, telling them they were not welcome in Britain, charities working with migrants told AFP news agency.
In a statement shared with X, Raise the Colors said it had not received “official notification” from French authorities regarding the ban.
“Raise the Colors has always maintained that its activities must be peaceful and conducted within the law. This organization does not support violence or any illegal activity,” the statement said.
Far-right activists in Britain have used migrants and asylum seekers who have migrated from France across the English Channel for years to promote their hard-line anti-immigration policies.
Last year, far-right groups held rallies in cities and towns across Britain to demand that Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government stop housing asylum seekers in hotels.
Data from July showed more than 25,000 people had crossed the Channel to enter the UK by then, the fastest pace of arrivals since records began in 2018.
The Home Office said a total of more than 41,000 people crossed the Channel in small boats in 2025, an increase from the previous year but lower than the record set in 2022, when more than 45,000 people crossed.
