“The British government must open legal immigration channels,” urged the transpartisan collective of coastal mayors on Wednesday, annoyed at having to manage migrants crossing the Channel to reach the United Kingdom on their territory.
“We must engage in a standoff with the British, that’s enough!” », Launched the mayor of Calais Natacha Bouchart (various right), during a press conference organized during the Congress of Mayors in Paris. “We are in complete hypocrisy, we talk about a border but it does not exist since the British authorities accept all the migrants who arrive,” added the spokesperson for the collective which brings together 15 municipalities from which the migrants depart.
At least 60 dead since the start of the year
According to the Pas-de-Calais prefecture, around a thousand candidates for exile are currently staying on the coast and more than 33,500 successful passages to England have been recorded, according to figures put forward by the collective.
At least 60 migrants have also died in the Channel since January 1, not counting the last bodies discovered and the missing: the deadliest toll since the start in 2018 of these clandestine crossings aboard makeshift boats nicknamed “small boats.” », inflatable boats that smugglers overload with passengers, who often do not wear life jackets.
“If we don't sound the alarm, nothing will happen. The situation is urgent, it has been going on for too long. If the solution was technical, it would be known and we would have already succeeded,” added Sony Clinquart, mayor of Grand-Fort-Philippe.
The mayor of Sangatte: “The situation is only getting worse”
“We had the installation of CCTV cameras paid for by the British supposed to discourage smugglers, but they never worked. There is no point in paying thousands of euros, we must raise the debate with legislative developments and stop crisis management. It’s been 15 years since I was elected and the situation is only getting worse,” added the mayor of Sangatte Guy Allemand.
The collective also calls for the renegotiation of the Le Touquet agreements, which entrusted France with management of the border, the establishment of an immigration prefect, the creation of a transport police to “reassure” the population, as well as the establishment of humanitarian reception areas outside the coastal strip to take care of migrants upstream.
Finally, they plead for obtaining additional resources and reimbursement of expenses incurred from their own funds by the municipalities concerned.
