The mail crossed the Channel. Wednesday 1er December, Prime Minister Jean Castex wrote to his British counterpart, Boris Johnson, amid a diplomatic quarrel that has persisted for several weeks between Paris and London. This tension has been illustrated in particular since the tragedy of November 24, during which at least 27 people died trying to cross the Channel to reach England, the deadliest shipwreck since the explosion of these inflatable boat crossings. .
“The principle of the letter is to call on each country to assume its responsibilities, we explain to Matignon. This is absolutely not acrimonious mail. “ 10 Downing Street refused to comment on its content on Thursday, December 2.
“The management of the reception of migrants who wish to come to your country is now primarily based on France, which is not normal”, writes in particular Jean Castex, who considers that“A big part of the solution” is located in the UK. He suggests to Boris Johnson a series of actions such as strengthening the expulsions of irregular migrants, better control of illegal work – which would be a factor of attractiveness – or even the opening of legal immigration channels.
“Your country attracts women and men who have family, linguistic, cultural ties to it, or simply the conviction that they can easily find professional opportunities there. Some of these reasons for immigration are undoubtedly legitimate ”, says Mr. Castex.
Johnson’s ‘Ineligible’ Proposal
A source in Matignon recalls that, while more than 20,000 people have reached England in small boats in 2021 – in order to apply for international protection, the vast majority – France will have, for its part, registered more than 100,000 asylum requests. In addition, since Brexit, Great Britain is no longer subject to the European Dublin regulation, which organizes the management of asylum requests in Europe. Thanks to Dublin, people in the European Union (EU) could, for example, assert family ties in the United Kingdom in order to travel there and apply for asylum.
Already very bad, relations between Paris and London deteriorated further last week after Mr Johnson posted on Twitter a letter to President Emmanuel Macron, offering France to resume “All migrants who have crossed the Channel illegally”. The Elysee has judged “Inadmissible ” proposal.
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