French leader tells Britain to get serious on Channel migrant crisis

Paris says British minister no longer welcome at EU talks on ways to curb flow of refugees

PARIS • French President Emmanuel Macron told Britain yesterday it needed to "get serious" or remain locked out of discussions over how to curb the flow of migrants escaping war and poverty across the Channel.

Mr Macron was responding to a letter by British Prime Minister Boris Johnson setting out the steps that he said would deter migrants from making the perilous journey across the sea separating the two countries.

Mr Johnson, who has previously said France was at fault, insisted in the letter that Paris agree on joint patrols on its shores and consent to taking back the migrants that make it to Britain.

Taking back migrants "would significantly reduce - if not stop - the crossings, saving thousands of lives by fundamentally breaking the business model of the criminal gangs" behind the trafficking, he said in the letter.

Infuriated by the letter, and not the least by the fact that Mr Johnson published it on Twitter, the French government cancelled an invitation to British Home Minister Priti Patel to attend a meeting in Calais tomorrow.

The meeting with officials from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the European Commission would still go ahead, Mr Macron said.

"The (EU) ministers will work seriously to settle serious issues with serious people," Mr Macron told a news conference in Rome. "We will then see how to move forward efficiently with the British, if they decide to get serious," he added.

Mr Johnson suggested five steps that he felt could reduce the crossings, including joint patrols to prevent more boats from leaving French beaches from as soon as next week, using sensors and radar, and work on a returns agreement with France and a similar deal with the European Union.

The growing spat between Britain and France - and between their two leaders - is taking place just days after 27 migrants died trying to cross the narrow seaway from France to Britain, the worst tragedy on record in one of the world's busiest shipping lanes.

France has accused Britain of managing its immigration system poorly and Mr Macron said Mr Johnson's tweet was not a "serious" way of handling matters.

"I'm surprised when things are not done seriously, we don't communicate between leaders via tweets or published letters, we are not whistle-blowers," he said.

Mr Macron's comments and the cancellation of the meeting with Ms Patel underlined the poor post-Brexit relations between the two countries and the difficulties they may face working together to curb the flow of migrants.

"We're fed up with (London's) double-talk," French government spokesman Gabriel Attal said, adding that Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin had told Ms Patel she was no longer welcome."

London said it hopes Paris would reconsider.

"No nation can tackle this alone and so I hope that the French will reconsider," Transport Minister Grant Shapps told BBC News.

Seventeen men, seven women and three teenagers died on Wednesday when their dinghy deflated in the Channel, one of many such risky journeys taken in small, overloaded boats by people fleeing Afghanistan, Iraq and beyond.

The deaths deepened animosity between Britain and France, already at odds over post-Brexit trade rules and fishing rights.

When Britain left the EU, it was no longer able to use the bloc's system for returning migrants to the first member state they entered.

REUTERS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on November 27, 2021, with the headline French leader tells Britain to get serious on Channel migrant crisis. Subscribe