In a letter to Boris Johnson, the French Prime Minister Jean Castex, said not to be able to “accept (…) that police or British soldiers patrol themselves on our coast; there is our sovereignty”.
Le Monde with AFP
After the death of twenty-seven migrants in the Channel on November 24, Paris and London are trying to agree to end migratory traffic. The French Prime Minister Jean Castex, however, rejected, Thursday, December 2, in a letter to his British counterpart Boris Johnson, his proposal for “joint patrols” on the French soil to prevent the departure from migrants to Great Britain .
“We have always agreed to review and discuss British proposals for strengthening cooperation. We have accepted some, we have declined others,” says Castex in this text. “We can not accept, for example, that police or British military patrols on our coast; there is our sovereignty,” he says.
Boris Johnson had made this proposal during a telephone conversation with the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the day after the drama. It also appeared in a letter from Mr. Johnson to Mr. Macron – including The publication on Twitter by the British government has ulcerated Paris and caused a new crisis between the two countries.
Return migrants,” Not an option “for France
In his text, Mr. Johnson also proposed “a bilateral readmission agreement to allow the return of all illegal migrants that cross the Channel”. “Referring migrants, for us it is not an option, it is not a serious or responsible way to approach the question,” also affirmed a source in Matignon.
“More than 700 policemen and gendarmes surpass the Opal Coast every day, to prevent fortune boats from taking the sea” to England, “says Castex in his response. “Part of these operations is carried out with your government’s financial contribution, in line with our cooperation agreements,” he recalls.
“However, these efforts only allow to contain the phenomenon, not to provide a sustainable response,” said the French Prime Minister, calling on the United Kingdom to lead “a more effective return policy” and to open “Legal immigration routes to those who have legitimate reasons for wanting to visit” in this country.