Several European officials are gathering this Sunday afternoon to discuss the management of the flow of migrants crossing the Channel.
This meeting takes place in Calais (Pas-de-Calais), at the initiative of France.
The organization of this crisis meeting was decided in the wake of a tragedy that occurred on Wednesday.
At least 27 people have died in the sea trying to reach the UK.
Read also Shipwrecks of migrants in the Channel: Calais, the nightmare of all governments
The ministers in charge of immigration from different countries are expected on site from 3 p.m.: Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
The European Commissioner for Home Affairs will also be present.
The European criminal police, Europol, and border agencies, Frontex, will be represented there.
"Not serious" methods
The purpose of the meeting is "the fight against illegal immigration and smuggling networks", according to the press note of the French Minister of the Interior, Gerald Darmanin, on Saturday evening.
It is about strengthening "operational cooperation in the fight against smugglers because they are international networks that operate in different European countries", argues the entourage of the Minister.
This meeting finally takes place without the British part, which is however primarily concerned.
Gérald Darmanin canceled the participation of his counterpart Priti Patel on Friday.
The decision comes in response to a letter published Thursday evening on Twitter by Boris Johnson, the British Prime Minister asking Paris to take back migrants arriving in the United Kingdom from France.
The French side did not consider it appropriate to be warned first by Twitter and that, in addition, the details of the discussions be public.
In a message to Priti Patel, Gérald Darmanin said he was “disappointed” with the demands of the British Prime Minister and judged their publication “even worse”.
French President Emmanuel Macron also criticized Boris Johnson for “not serious” methods.
On Saturday, European Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas said it was up to the UK to resolve its problems relating to the influx of migrants.
The country "left the European Union", as a result it "must now decide how to organize the management of border control.
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The sinking, which claimed the lives of at least 27 people on Wednesday, is the worst migratory drama in the Channel, now crisscrossed daily aboard fragile boats by migrants trying to reach the English coast.
These crossings have developed since 2018 in the face of the closure of the port of Calais and the Channel Tunnel, which migrants took while hiding in vehicles.
The doubt of aid associations
The British government insisted on Saturday that relations with France remain "strong". Boris Johnson's letter "absolutely recognizes everything the French government and authorities have done, that it is a shared challenge," British Secretary of State for Security Damian Hinds told the BBC . “But now, particularly driven by this terrible tragedy, we must go further, deepen our partnership, expand what we do, develop new solutions. ".
On the side of migrant aid associations, it is the doubt that prevails for the moment. “When the government accuses the smugglers, it's a way of hiding its own responsibilities. If the border was not blocked and if there were possibilities of legal crossings in Great Britain, there would be no smugglers ”, reacted François Guennoc, president of the Auberge des migrants. “I am very pessimistic. The policy of the French authorities to avoid
fixing points
, to keep the border for the British and to annoy associations as much as possible in their work, it will not change, ”he said.
For Marguerite Combes, coordinator of the Calais branch of Utopia 56, “it is absolutely necessary” that the politicians “wake up”.
"If nothing changes in the policies being carried out everywhere in Europe and at the border here, we will relive this tragedy this winter".