The British were withdrawn after comments by Boris Johnson of the coordination meeting organized by France following the tragedy of the migrants who tried to cross the Pas de Calais. The British Home Secretary will therefore not be there, unlike her European counterparts. The European Union regrets the absence of the British even if the Channel has once again become one of its external borders.
The United Kingdom must take its responsibilities and get involved in managing the influx of migrants thronging its shores, says Margaritis Schinas, the European Commissioner responsible for migration issues. And he drives home the point by recalling that the Brexit slogan wanted by Boris Johnson was after all to take back border control, reports our correspondent in Brussels, Pierre Bénazet.
Always conflicting relationships
The remark is obviously an arrow fired at the British government, because Europeans believe it is voluntarily maintaining an open conflict with the European Union, so as to divert the attention of British public opinion from the internal problems of the United Kingdom. And this observation – unofficial – is the same for the fishing license crisis as for the tragedy of migrants.
European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson had planned to revive British Home Secretary Priti Patel on the issue of police cooperation and information exchange. She also wanted to discuss the fight against smugglers, their channels and their networks. She can only regret his absence.
According to human rights defenders, the issue of family reunification must also be raised as the first victim of the shipwreck identified Maryam Nuri Mohamed Amin, a young woman of 24 who wanted to join her husband, living in the United Kingdom, reports our envoy. special in Calais, Juliette Gheerbrant.
France and its Belgian, Dutch and German neighbors therefore intend to show that they can act without London. And if the four countries meeting in Calais take firm measures, they will have the support of the other countries of the Union, currently very sensitive to migration issues, in particular those in the Mediterranean as well as the Balts and Poles.
The Touquet accords: two decades of France-United Kingdom tension
On February 4, 2003, former President Jacques Chirac signed the Touquet agreements with British Prime Minister Tony Blair. After the closure of the Sangatte accommodation center, they allow British police officers to control applicants for immigration to the English coast on French soil. France has a duty to welcome immigrants turned back at the border. This causes a shift of the British border in French ports. In April 2009, bulldozers destroyed the scattered slums in the Calais region, but they soon began to rebuild themselves: the Calais jungle appeared. To complete this agreement, other treaties were signed over the years. In 2014, 15 million euros were promised by the British to help France. Already in the air, the idea of renegotiating the Touquet agreements has gained political weight in France with Brexit. On January 18, 2018, Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May sign the Sandhurst agreements. London then promises an additional envelope of 50.5 million euros to help with checks on migrants in Calais. The day after the shipwreck of 27 migrants in the Channel, on November 24, 2021, the number two of LFI, Adrien Quatennens, called on BFM TV and RMC to ” renegotiating the Touquet agreements ” who ” plan for France to be the gatekeeper for the United Kingdom “.
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