CALAIS, France — France sought help from its European
neighbors on Sunday to crack down on Channel people-smuggling gangs, with
Interior Minister
Gerald Darmanin saying he could "not accept" any
more deaths after an unprecedented accident claimed 27 lives.
اضافة اعلان
Ministers responsible for immigration from France, Germany,
the Netherlands, and Belgium convened in the northern French port of Calais on
Sunday afternoon, but without the UK, which was excluded after a row last week.
"The biggest point for this meeting is the fight
against people-smugglers who take advantage of our borders and countries,"
Darmanin said at the start of the event, adding that "migratory pressures
continue and are constantly increasing".
"These deaths are too many," he said of the
accident which saw 27 people drown on Wednesday after their inflatable dinghy
began losing air crossing the English Channel in wintry temperatures. "We
cannot accept that any more people die."
The main focus was to have been scheduled talks between
Darmanin and British counterpart Priti Patel after both countries vowed to
cooperate to tackle a surge in crossings this year which has seen around 26,000
people set off from France to England.
But within 48 hours of Wednesday's disaster, French
President
Emmanuel Macron had accused UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson of being
"not serious".
Paris was irked by Johnson's initial reaction, which was
seen as deflecting blame onto France, and then by his decision to write a
letter to Macron which he published in full on his Twitter account before the
French leader had received it.
Patel's invitation to Sunday's talks was withdrawn over the
breach of diplomatic protocol, with an aide to Darmanin calling Johnson's
letter "unacceptable".
Britain's departure from the EU has caused years of ill-will
between Paris and London, with relations seen as at their lowest point in at
least two decades.
Cross-border crime
Under-fire Patel called her absence "unfortunate"
but said she would be holding "urgent talks" with European
counterparts this week.
She spoke on Sunday morning with Dutch Immigration Minister
Ankie Broekers-Knol, with a statement from the Home Office saying "the
tragic incidents of last week demonstrate the need for European partners to
work together".
Without the participation of Britain — the intended
destination country for the thousands of migrants and asylum seekers massed in
northern France — there are limits to what can be achieved at Sunday's meeting
in Calais.
The EU's home affairs commissioner
Ylva Johansson, as well
as the directors of the border force Frontex and police agency Europol also
attended.
People-smuggling gangs are known to use Belgium, the
Netherlands, and Germany as bases to organize their operations.
Many migrants are believed to travel to launch sites in
northern France from Belgium, while inflatables and life jackets can be bought
in other countries such as the Netherlands and Germany without raising
suspicion.
One of the five men arrested in connection with Wednesday's
tragedy was driving a car with German registration, according to French
officials.
Solutions?
While France and Britain agree on the need to tackle
people-smugglers more effectively, they remain at odds over how to prevent
people taking to the water.
In his public letter to Macron, Johnson again pressed for
British police and border agents to patrol alongside their French counterparts
on the coast of northern France — something rejected by Paris in the past as an
infringement on sovereignty.
More controversially, he also proposed sending back all
migrants who land in England, a move which he claimed would save
"thousands of lives by fundamentally breaking the business model of the
criminal gangs".
Patel said that in her call with Dutch Immigration Minister
Broekers-Knol "both agreed that returns agreements are essential for
breaking the criminal business model".
After
Brexit, Britain does not have a returns treaty with
the EU or France.
France, which received 80,000 asylum requests in 2020 compared
with 27,000 in the UK, has suggested Britain should enable migrants to lodge
their dossiers in northern France.
Activist groups have also called for safe routes for asylum
seekers to arrive in Britain.
Investigations into last week's accident continue, with
French police giving no details officially about the circumstances or the
identities of the victims.
A total of 17 men, seven women and three minors died, with
migrants living along the coast telling AFP that the deceased were mostly
Iraqis, Iranians, and Afghans.
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