No, this is not a photo of U.K. farmers protesting against migrant boats in Dover

By: Soham Shah
July 31 2024

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No, this is not a photo of U.K. farmers protesting against migrant boats in Dover

Post claiming that the  photo shows farmers blocking boats at Dover UK. (Source:Facebook/Modified by Logically Facts)

Fact-Check

The Verdict False

The video shows farmers protesting on Le Touquet beach in France against their government's agriculture policy and is unrelated to migrant boats.

Claim ID a4a5ac24

What is the claim?

A photo showing tractors lined up on a beach has been shared on social media platforms Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), claiming that it shows farmers in Dover, U.K., protesting against migrant boats. The photo carries text overlaid that reads "Farmers blocking boats" and was shared with captions like "At Dover....🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿" and "Farmers preventing refugees coming in on boat." Archives of such posts can be accessed here and here. 


Posts claiming that the photo shows farmers blocking boats at Dover, U.K. (Source: Facebook, X/Modified by Logically Facts)

The issue of migrants arriving in the U.K. by boat from France has been a significant point of discussion in the U.K.

However, we found this claim is false, and the photo is unrelated to protests against migrant boats in the U.K.

What is the truth? 

A Google search led us to a video on YouTube (archived here) titled "Farmers lined up hundreds of tractors on a beach where French President owns a holiday home," uploaded on January 27, 2024, on a channel called "theworkersrights." The description of the video indicated that the video was shot at Le Touquet beach. The frame from this video at timestamp 0:10 shows the same people as in the viral photo. 

Comparison of the viral photo and the YouTube video. (Source: Facebook, theworkersrights/YouTube)

Using this information, we found an X post uploaded on January 26, 2024, by French public radio Station France Bleu Nord (archived here), which carried a similar video showing tractors lined up on a beach. The caption of this post, translated from French, reads, "Many dozens of tractors assemble at Touquet beach."

X post by France Bleu Nord. (Source:fbleunord/X)

We also found news reports by France Info and France Bleu published in January 2024 detailing the protest at Le Touquet Beach, with images of the demonstration at the seafront. 

Part of the protests by French farmers over "over low earnings, heavy regulation and what they describe as unfair competition from abroad," Le Touquet was chosen as a spot for protest as French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife own a house in the town. The action by farmers came after announcements from the French government did not meet expectations, the reports said.

We were also able to match a building visible in the background in France Bleu Nord's video to a building near the Aqualud water park on the beach in Le Touquet on Google Street View.

Comparison of image on Google Street View and the video by France Bleu Nord. (Source: France Info/FDSEA 62)

We found no credible sources reporting that a protest against migrant boats had taken place in Dover.

The verdict

The claim is false as this photo has nothing to do with migrant boats in the U.K. but shows French farmers protesting agriculture policy.

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