The French prime minister explained that they cannot accept that “British police or military patrol their coasts, because” our sovereignty is at stake. “
The French Government rejects that British police or military patrol the French coasts to fight against illegal immigration in the English Channel, as proposed by London, which advocates joint patrols.
French Prime Minister Jean Castex sent a letter to his British counterpart Boris Johnson on Wednesday explaining that France cannot accept that “British police or military patrol our coasts”, as “our sovereignty is at stake,” according to the French press.
Johnson had proposed joint patrols to French President Emmanuel Macron, following the death of 27 migrants on November 24 in a shipwreck off Calais when they tried to smuggle into the United Kingdom.
The British “premier” believes that this measure is necessary to prevent the departure of precarious migrant boats from the French shores. London believes that the French are not doing enough to curb illegal immigration.
Johnson reiterated his proposal for joint patrols in a letter to Macron that he posted on Twitter the day after the Calais tragedy, instead of using the usual diplomatic channels, deeply irritating Paris.
Castex also rejected another of Johnson’s immigration proposals. The British prime minister asked Macron to make Paris take care of all migrants smuggling into the UK from France.
“Returning migrants is not an option for us. It is not a serious or responsible way to approach the issue, “Castex told Johnson in his letter.
The French Prime Minister explained that there are currently “more than 700 policemen and gendarmes” patrolling the Opal Coast, the coastal region of northern France that borders the North Sea and the English Channel, to try to prevent precarious boats with migrants go to sea.
Castex recalled that part of these operations are being financed with British money, under the Touquet cross-border cooperation agreements, which entered into force in 2004.
The French Prime Minister acknowledged, however, that these efforts have not made it possible to contain the phenomenon of illegal immigration in the English Channel, nor have they provided a lasting solution to this problem.
Castex once again urged London to open ‘legal immigration routes’ for those who have ‘legitimate reasons’ for wanting to emigrate to the UK, in order to prevent undocumented migrants from risking their lives in precarious boats trying to cross the English Channel.
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