Garang*, 18, is one of thousands of refugees recently caught in the crossfire of French riot police, who threw teargas and beat them with batons when they boarded dinghies to travel to the UK. He is a victim of a war in his home of South Sudan – and one being fought on France’s northern shores.

He borrows a phone from anyone with credit who will let him try to call home, where his family is displaced. Garang doesn’t have enough money on the £10-a-week allowance from the Home Office to make a long-distance call. All he wants is to speak to his mum, to hear her voice, and let her know he is alive and safe in the UK despite the violence he has faced.

On Thursday, stopping more people like Garang from reaching the UK in small boats topped the “to do” list of the prime minister, Andy Burnham, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, when they held talks. The leaders agreed they were making headway in reducing small boat crossings in the English Channel but now needed to go further.

How much further can the war on refugees go? Along with the use of teargas and beatings, there are now surveillance drones and more French officers to tackle dinghy launches from other parts of the coast. The UK government is increasingly using military terms such as “surge” and “neutralise” in........

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