“France cannot take on the issue alone,” judged Bruno Retailleau, the Minister of the Interior, this Friday, November 29, raising the tone against London while more than 70 migrants died trying to cross the Channel from beginning of the year. The Minister of the Interior was traveling in Pas-de-Calais, where he was questioned by mayors on the front line in the face of this human tragedy.
Local elected officials demanded solutions, and quickly. While the situation continues to worsen with more dangerous and tense crossings, these elected officials from the Côte d'Opale feel a little alone on the front line on the road of these exiles. They clearly want more means to reassure their population as well.
“We cannot accept seeing bodies wash up on our beaches, people who come to find a better future and ultimately die at home, it is not possible,” laments Stéphane Pinto, mayor of Ambleteuse, where several castaways have failed again recently. “We are not armed, we. Where we are armed, it is to help the exiles by opening a room, by giving them food stops. What is the cost? This is the cost of a life. I ignore the cost. But we need to be supported. We cannot go beyond that. We have recently felt a tension between certain exiles and then fellow citizens. Why did we get to this point?” he regrets.
What do the British think?
On the London side, since his election, Keir Starmer has said he is open to working in collaboration with European countries and in particular with France on this issue of illegal immigration. The British Prime Minister made in particular accelerate the processing of asylum seeker files. while toughening the fight against smugglers.
This is truly the Labor government's plan of attack, tackle the root of the problem by targeting these smuggling networks who organize clandestine crossings of the Channel. In this sense, the British government also announced an agreement with Iraq on Thursday.
The criticism that is often made from London to Paris is that it is sometimes considered in the United Kingdom that the French are not doing enough on their part to monitor their beaches. In the British press, we sometimes even suspect the French police of turning a blind eye a little by voluntarily letting these boats leave the French coast to attempt the crossing to England.
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