France proposes migration agreement with Great Britain

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Rescued refugees in Dover on Friday

Photo: Gareth Fuller / AP

The French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin is campaigning for a migration agreement between the EU and Great Britain.

The agreement was necessary because the issue was not dealt with in the Brexit agreement, said Darmanin during a visit to the French North Sea coast.

France will put the issue on the agenda of its EU Council Presidency from January.

Darmanin had visited Loon-Plage and Marck on the French coast on Saturday, where refugees and migrants try to cross the English Channel to get to England every day.

1500 migrants and refugees intercepted

According to a count by the British news agency PA, more than 17,000 refugees have managed to cross to Great Britain since the beginning of the year, more than twice as many as in the whole of 2020. On Friday and Saturday, British ships intercepted more than 1,100 refugees.

During the same period, the French authorities reportedly prevented 414 people from crossing to Great Britain.

The increasing number of refugees crossing the English Channel in small boats has led to growing tensions between London and Paris after Britain left the EU at the beginning of the year.

In England, conservative hardliners had stoked fears of an "invasion".

The British Home Secretary Priti Patel repeatedly played through sometimes martial and questionable methods to prevent people from crossing.

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• Refugee route within Europe: By rowing boat to England

Darmanin urged the British government to "keep its promise" and provide resources to combat smugglers on the French coast.

As part of an agreement reached in July, Great Britain had agreed to finance border security in France with 62.7 million euros this year and next.

According to British media reports, Patel threatened to withhold the money in September given the record number of migrants coming from France across the English Channel.

According to Darmanin, the coast guard has stopped almost two thirds of all boats launched in France in the past three months.

Before that, it was only half.

slü / AFP