he girls were ready to leave for London on Eurostar when French police arrived at the school gate to take them into care and their parents into custody. It is doubtful the cousins, both six, had been told why they were crossing the Channel. But activists campaigning against female genital mutilation (FGM) told the Guardian they had learned that the parents were planning to have them "cut", and tipped off the police just in time. The story demonstrates France's zero-tolerance towards FGM, a tough approach that has jailed about 100 people in dozens of high-profile cases.