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Decathlon stops canoe sales in northern France to cut migrant crossings

Sports equipment retailer Decathlon will no longer sell canoes in the north of France to prevent migrants using them in a bid to cross the Channel to England.

Published: 17 November 2021 08:52 CET
A dinghy belonging to the French Maritime Affairs department heads for shore, carrying several migrants who had tried to cross the Channel to England
Photo: Bernard Barron / AFP

“The purchase of canoes will no longer be possible” in Decathlon stores in Calais and Grande-Synthe near Dunkirk, “given the current context,” the retailer told AFP, confirming local media reports.

The items sold from the stores were not being used for their original sporting purpose, but “could be used to cross the Channel,” it said. In such cases, “people’s lives would be endangered,” the retailer argued.

The stores themselves had decided to stop selling the canoes and management had approved the decision, Decathlon said.

The canoes will continue to be available for online purchase and in other stores. Other safety equipment, such as life-jackets and thermal protection will also still be sold in the Calais and Grande-Synthe stores.

READ ALSO What the French are doing to stop migrant crossings

ROn Friday, three migrants were reported missing after trying to cross the Channel to Britain in canoes, as the number of crossings soars.

Two canoes were found adrift off Calais on Thursday and two people were fished out of the water.

Earlier on Tuesday, French police cleared a major migrant camp that was home to around a thousand people hoping to reach Britain. Tensions are high between London and Paris over English Channel crossings.

A record number of migrants crossed the Channel in small boats last Thursday – 1,185 according to British figures – which the British government described as “unacceptable”.

READ ALSO: ‘The maximum’: What France is doing to prevent migrant crossings to UK

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin spoke to his British counterpart Priti Patel on Monday, but only after giving a blunt interview in which he said Britain should “stop using us as a punch-bag in their domestic politics“.

The French authorities said they carried out 10 separate operations Tuesday in which they rescued 272 migrants who were trying to cross the Channel to England aboard makeshift boats, some of them in difficulty.

Maritime officials said they were taken to the ports of Calais, Dunkirk and Boulogne-sur-Mer where they were looked after by the border police and firefighters.

Maritime Prefect Philippe Dutrieux said around 15,400 migrants have tried to make the dangerous Channel crossing between January 1 and August 31, with some 3,500 of them rescued from boats in distress and brought to French shores.

In 2020, some 9,500 people crossed the Channel or tried to do so, compared to 2,300 in 2019 and 600 in 2018.

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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

Factcheck: Is France really trying to ban speaking English at the Paris Olympics?

A resolution by a group of French MPs to 'say non to English at the Paris Olympics' has generated headlines - but will athletes and visitors really be required to speak French?

Published: 3 May 2024 10:10 CEST
Factcheck: Is France really trying to ban speaking English at the Paris Olympics?

In a resolution adopted on Thursday, France’s Assemblée Nationale urged organisers of the 2024 Paris Games, as well as athletes, trainers and journalists, to use French as much as possible.

Annie Genevard, the sponsor of the resolution from the right-wing Les Républicains party, expressed alarm to fellow MPs that “the Olympic Games reflect the loss of influence of our language.”

The French MP’s resolution has garnered headlines, but does it actually mean anything?

Citing examples of English slogans in international sport, she added: “The fight for the French language … is never finished, even in the most official spheres.

“Let’s hope that ‘planche a roulettes’ replaces skateboard and ‘rouleau du cap’ point break (a surfing term), but I have my doubts.”

She’s right to doubt it – in French the skateboarding event is ‘le skateboard’, while the new addition of break-dancing is ‘le breaking‘.

But what does this actually mean?

In brief, not a lot. This is a parliamentary resolution, not a law, and is totally non-binding.

The Games are organised by the International Olympic Committee, the Paris 2024 Organising Committee and Paris City Hall – MPs do not have a role although clearly the Games must follow any French domestic laws that parliament passes.

The French parliament has got slightly involved with security issues for the Games, passing laws allowing for the use of enhanced security and surveillance measures including the use of facial recognition and drone technology that was previously outlawed in France.

So what do the Olympic organisers think of English?

The Paris 2024 organisers have shown that they have no problem using English – which is after all one of the two official languages of the Olympics. The other being French.

The head of the organising committee Tony Estanguet speaks fluent English and is happy to do so while official communications from the Games organisers – from social media posts to the ticketing website – are all available in both French and English.

Even the slogan for the Games is in both languages – Ouvrir grand les jeux/ Games wide open (although the pun only really works in French).

In fact the Games organisers have sometimes drawn criticism for their habit (common among many French people, especially younger ones) of peppering their French with English terms, from “le JO-bashing” – criticism of the Olympics – to use of the English “challenges” rather than the French “defis”.

The 45,000 Games volunteers – who are coming from dozens of countries – are required only to speak either French or English and all information for volunteers has been provided in both languages.

Paris local officials are also happy to use languages other than French and the extra signage that is going up in the city’s public transport system to help people find their way to Games venues is printed in French, English and Spanish.

Meanwhile public transport employees have been issued with an instant translation app, so that they can help visitors in multiple languages.

In short, visitors who don’t speak French shouldn’t worry too much – just remember to say bonjour.

Official language  

So why is French an official language of the Olympics? Well that’s easy – the modern Games were the invention of a Frenchman, the aristocrat Pierre de Coubertin, in the late 19th century.

Some of his views – for example that an Olympics with women would be “impractical, uninteresting (and) unaesthetic” – have thankfully been consigned to the dustbin of history, but his influence remains in the language.

The International Olympic Committee now has two official languages – English and French.

Official communications from the IOC are done in both languages and announcements and speeches at the Games (for example during medal ceremonies) are usually done in English, French and the language of the host nation, if that language is neither English nor French.

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