French authorities open inquiry after police deploy UK-funded border vehicles against student protesters

PARIS — The French government has confirmed an official investigation after French police deployed UK-funded border control vehicles to charge at student protesters in Dunkirk, leaving a 14-year-old girl injured and hospitalized.

The incident, which gained public attention following reports and footage broadcast by French media outlet BFM TV on October 10, involves Masstech VEZI land cruisers purchased under the Anglo-French Sandhurst treaty signed in January 2018. While those specialized vehicles were financed by British taxpayers specifically to intercept asylum seekers attempting English Channel crossings, authorities deployed them against demonstrators during nationwide school protests over crumbling infrastructure and teacher shortages.

A spokesperson for the office of Laurent Nuñez, France’s minister of the interior, confirmed the opening of an inquiry into why the border enforcement equipment was diverted to police domestic student demonstrations.

The 14-year-old victim, who sustained a haematoma after being struck by the vehicle and was subsequently discharged from the hospital, described the experience to observers as unacceptable. Video footage from the scene captured the vehicle driving at high speed, reversing, and moving forward again with a waste bin lodged beneath its front wheel.

The deployment has drawn sharp criticism from advocacy groups. Utopia 56 asserted that the tactic of utilizing heavy 4×4 vehicles to disperse student protesters mirrors methods employed against migrants on French beaches, alleging that authorities rely on disproportionate force to intimidate demonstrators. A recent French parliamentary cross-party inquiry noted that nine specialized VEZI vehicles have been procured under the terms of the bilateral border pact.

Sources close to the investigation expressed concern regarding the broader militarisation of French policing tactics, suggesting that British authorities may be unaware of how the funding is being utilized domestically.

The UK Home Office declined to comment on the matter.