France hosted a meeting of European ministers on Sunday to discuss ways to stop migrants crossing the Channel in dinghies, but without Britain which was excluded following a row last week.
Ministers responsible for immigration from France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium met in the northern French port of Calais on Sunday afternoon to discuss how to tackle people-smuggling gangs that provide boats to migrants seeking to enter Britain by crossing the narrow waterway.
The talks were called following the shocking deaths of 27 people on Wednesday as they attempted to cross from France to England in a dinghy that began losing air while at sea in cold winter temperatures.
The aim of the meeting is “improving operational cooperation in the fight against people-smuggling because these are international networks which operate in different European countries,” an aide to French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin told AFP.
Originally the main focus had been the planned discussions between Darmanin and his British counterpart Priti Patel after both countries vowed in the immediate aftermath of the mass drownings to cooperate more.
But within 48 hours of the accident, French President Emmanuel Macron had accused British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of being “not serious” in unusually personal criticism that pushed relations to fresh lows.
France 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Patel’s invitation to Sunday’s talks was withdrawn over the breach of diplomatic protocol, with an aide to Darmanin calling Johnson’s letter “unacceptable”.
Under-fire Patel wrote on Twitter that she would be holding “urgent talks with my European counterparts this week” and had already spoken with Dutch Immigration Minister Ankie Broekers-Knol on Sunday morning.
Britain’s departure from the European Union 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 –
Without the participation of Britain — the 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.
The invitation to France’s other northern neighbours reflects concern about how people-smuggling gangs are able to use Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany as bases to organise 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 accident was driving a car with German registration, according to French officials.
In a Sunday address at the Vatican on Sunday, Pope Francis said he felt “so much pain” thinking about migrants who lost their lives in the Channel, as well as others who have drowned in the Mediterranean or become stranded in Belarus.
“Let’s think about how many migrants are exposed to very serious dangers at this time and how many lose their lives along our borders,” he told believers in Saint Peter’s square.
– 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 along 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”.
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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