The Dunkirk prosecutor’s office in northern France is investigating members of the French Navy for "public insults based on origin, ethnicity, nationality, race, or region" and "endangering the lives of others," said the prosecutor Charlotte Huet interviewed by AFP on May 9. The investigation was launched after the maritime prefect of the Maritime Prefecture for the Channel and the North Sea (Prémar) solicited the prosecutor on April 13.

Several days earlier, a member of the French Navy reported the behavior of four colleagues on the Ridens ship during "rescue missions at sea of migrants attempting to reach the United Kingdom in August and December 2025," said Huet. 

Read AlsoBritain renews Channel deal with France — amid opposition and controversy

Since 2023, the Ridens has been part of a surveillance and rescue operation established by the French government in the Strait of Dover, on the Franco-British border. Migrants regularly attempt to cross the Channel to reach England in perilous conditions aboard makeshift boats. Based in Dunkirk, the 40-meter-long vessel belongs to the private company SeaOwl, and it has a crew of ten members, according to Prémar.

"Precautionary measures" which are "still in force" were taken after the report’s release, Prémar told AFP, without going further into detail.

'Animals'

The case was revealed by the French daily newspaper Le Monde and the investigative outlet Lighthouse Reports. In an article published on May 9, journalists quoted a female member of the Navy who had completed two missions aboard the Ridens in August and in December 2025.

Magalie (the modified name used by Le Monde) reported "openly racist" remarks made by members of the crew in the presence of rescued migrants: "they are really animals", "they smell like piss, we should burn them all with flame-throwers" or "they stink, all these Muslims,  they should be killed, we’ll throw them away."

The woman also described a situation to Le Monde and Lighthouse Reports in which the migrants aboard the Ridens only received a small ration of 33 centiliters of water in six hours on a hot day, while 1,250 bottles remained in storage.

"She attributed the rationing to the crew’s refusal to place themselves in a 'humanitarian' position," wrote the journalists. "There were also fruit jellies and cereal bars supposedly in stock, but they weren’t distributed," Magalie added. Three other crew members confirmed these remarks, according to the journalistic investigation.

Sailors 'in balaclavas' during rescue operations

Besides the racist comments, crew members of Ridens can also be violent with exiles. "Some crew members show up in balaclavas" during migrant rescues at sea, according to a member of the French navy. Interviewed anonymously for the article, the person regretted that humanitarian missions are "led by men who are authentically xenophobic."

"They constantly look for confrontation. They shout at people, grab them and push them around. They do everything to create tension," another navy member told Le Monde and Lighthouse Reports. 

Read AlsoChannel crossings: France rescues 119 migrants trying to reach UK

The crew members of Ridens don’t hide their political ideas on social media and don’t hesitate to "like" posts by the far-right MEP Sarah Knafo of the Reconquête! Party, National Rally MPs, or even the identitarian collective Némésis, according to journalists.

The judicial investigation, entrusted to the maritime gendarmerie group of the Channel and the North Sea, will have to "verify the alleged facts" as well as "the status of the persons involved, which if confirmed, could potentially bring the military prosecutor’s office into jurisdiction," said the prosecutor of Dunkirk.