This content was published on 27 November 2021 – 16:22
Judith Mora
London, Nov 27 (EFE) .- The Government of the United Kingdom asked France this Saturday for “new creative solutions” between the two countries to stop migration through the English Channel, after the death on Wednesday of 27 people in a shipwreck , including a pregnant woman and three children.
The Secretary of State for Customs and Borders, Damian Hinds, insisted, in statements to the BBC, that a letter sent on Thursday by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to French President Emmanuel Macron, which caused outrage in Paris, had tone “cooperative” and only intended to verify that “we must deepen bilateral collaboration”.
The Johnson government is under pressure to curb the arrival of irregular migrants from France to England, after some of the measures it planned to introduce post-Brexit, such as sending asylum seekers to third countries to process, have not worked. your requests.
Seventeen men, seven women and three minors died in the tragedy of November 24, the worst in decades in the busy waters of the Canal, which left two survivors, who are now being interrogated on French soil.
The French Government has called a meeting to discuss the matter this Sunday in Calais (France), which will be attended by representatives of Belgium, Germany, the European Commission and the Netherlands, although it has canceled the invitation to the United Kingdom in response to the letter from the prime minister.
ATTEMPT TO LOWER THE TENSION
The controversial letter – which, among other things, called for the return to France of immigrants from there intercepted in England – “fully acknowledges what the French government has been doing and the fact that (immigration) is a common challenge.” , according to Hind.
“But now, particularly after the horrible tragedy, we must go further, deepen our partnership, expand what we do, agree on new creative solutions,” he stressed.
In the document, which was released on social media, Johnson lists the five bilateral measures he would like to see to “advance faster and faster” in the immigration crisis.
Among them, “joint patrols to prevent more boats from leaving French beaches,” the deployment of technology and surveillance in each other’s waters, and an agreement with France on “returns” (of immigrants), as well as negotiations to establish a returns pact between the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU), non-existent after the British exit from the EU.
Regarding the offer to send British patrols to Gallic waters, Hinds maintained that “no one proposes to violate sovereignty” but does emphasize that “more must be done” to monitor the French coast.
“You cannot just say that it is difficult because there are hundreds of thousands of kilometers of coastline, we have to do whatever it takes to save human lives,” he argued.
The secretary of state did not specify how much the French authorities have already been paid of the 54 million pounds (64 million euros) promised by the United Kingdom in 2021-22 to assist in patrol work.
EFFECTS OF BREXIT
The challenging attitude of the London Executive, frustrated by what it perceives as French ineffectiveness, has been criticized by former British Labor Foreign Minister David Miliband, who considers that the situation as a whole reflects “what Brexit really means”.
Miliband, currently director of the US NGO International Rescue Committee, founded by Albert Einstein, said Johnson was wrong in writing a letter that can be interpreted as trying to “make Macron angry.”
However, he also points out that the French Government is “wrong” also in rejecting the presence of a British representative at tomorrow’s meeting, since “obviously, the United Kingdom must be involved.”
“In the end, we are going to have to make amends and try to fix what Brexit has created,” he said.
Miliband recalled that, before leaving the EU on January 31, 2020, London could resort to the Dublin III community regulations to return immigrants to the first European country they had reached before landing on British soil, something that it can no longer do. not having negotiated an alternative agreement.
This year there have been 1,281 attempts to cross the Channel into England so far, compared to 868 in 2020, when there were fewer due to the pandemic, according to the Pas de Calais Maritime Prefecture (France).
The precarious vessels chartered by the organizers of these clandestine trips have transported 33,083 people so far this year, compared to 9,551 in 2020, the same source said. EFE
jm / pddp
(audio)
© EFE 2021. The redistribution and redistribution of all or part of the content of EFE’s services is expressly prohibited, without the prior and express consent of Agencia EFE SA
–
