The death of 27 immigrants after a boat sank off the coast of Calais, on the French Channel coast, added a diplomatic crisis to the crisis between France and England. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s posting on his Twitter account a letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, demanding “Take back your immigrants who crossed this side”, created a diplomatic crisis. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who invited his British colleague to the city of Calais to talk about the migrant crisis, canceled the invitation upon my arrival.
While there was a humanitarian tragedy in the English Channel, which is a graveyard for immigrants, a new one was added to the Brexit, AUKUS and fisheries crisis between France and England on both sides of the English Channel. Within the framework of the agreement signed between the two countries in Touquet, France, it was agreed that France would prevent illegal immigrants from crossing the English Channel in return for financial assistance from England. However, in the last year, the increase in the number of immigrants crossing illegally with rubber boats after all roads were closed has deepened the crisis between the two capitals. Finally, the humanitarian crisis, when 27 immigrants drowned in the English Channel while trying to cross the city of Calais, triggered a political and diplomatic crisis.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson held a crisis meeting right after the accident, the scene of the heaviest humanitarian drama in recent times, and made a statement holding France responsible for what happened. Johnson stated that they are aware of the difficulty of dealing with the migrant crisis, therefore they want to work more effectively with France on this issue. Thereupon, he called for the interior ministers of France, Germany, England, Belgium and the Netherlands, and the European Commission to meet this Sunday in Calais.
However, a day after this statement, British Prime Minister Johnson, who sent a letter to President Macron, suggested to Macron to sign an agreement that includes “the return of all immigrants who came to their country by crossing the English Channel to France”. Johnson, who shared the letter on his Twitter account, said: “We accept France’s desire to increase joint efforts to prevent the tragedies that took place on Wednesday, in which 27 people died. We agree to increase joint patrols on the coasts of the two countries. However, similar to what the EU signed with Belarus or Russia. Similarly, I propose a bilateral readmission agreement that would allow the return of all illegal immigrants crossing the English Channel.”
In addition to the statements in the letter, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, who was angered by the publication of a private letter on social media, called his British counterpart and said that “the letter was disappointing, but it was even more disappointing when it was spread openly”. After the meeting, it was announced that Priti Pattel’s invitation to the joint meeting with the Council of Europe on Sunday was cancelled.
“A hypocritical letter”
Speaking on BFMTV, government spokesman Gabriel Attal described Johnson’s letter as “essentially inadequate and out of place”, describing it as “an incomplete letter that does not respect all the work done by the French coast guard, police and rescuers. Moreover, we do not have the recommendations we need to solve the problem.” “It’s also a hypocritical letter. Because that tone certainly wasn’t there in Wednesday’s phone call with Emmanuel Macron,” he said.
UK crisis meeting on Sunday
The government has announced that the planned meeting to find a solution to the migrant crisis will be held this Sunday, but that the UK representative will not attend the meeting. French Prime Minister Jean Castex explained the objectives of the meeting, which will be held without the UK as the most important interlocutor, with the words “We are meeting on Sunday to define ways and means to strengthen police, judicial and humanitarian cooperation to better combat smuggling networks”. Government spokesman Gabriel Attal also stated that the EU should now take a firm stance against the policies that the UK followed during and after the Brexit negotiations and said, “The EU wants to see a UK with which it can work together.”
The first crisis between France and England occurred during the Brexit negotiations. During the negotiations, France’s “you wanted to leave the EU, here you go” attitude was not welcomed by the UK. After Brexit, the crisis broke out when the UK did not give licenses to more than 250 French fishermen who wanted to hunt off the island of Jersey. The US and UK’s signing of the Australian AUKUS agreement and the receipt of the 56 billion Euro submarine tender expected to be given to France further deepened the crisis. The tragedy that took place in the English Channel on Wednesday, which caused the drowning of 27 immigrants, also brought the tensions between the two countries to the surface.