The mayor of Calais has branded British calls for French border police to be tougher on illegal immigration as “sheer hypocrisy” and has pushed to scrap an agreement between the two countries aimed at cracking down on Channel crossings. Stain.
Natacha Bouchart asked why France It should spend millions of euros to prevent small boats from crossing the English Channel just to allow migrants to work illegally with little chance of being deported when they land on British shores.
‘When migrants arrive in Britain, they easily work without documents. The British government must stop denying it.
‘They actually accept immigrants who pass through Calais, so they have to change the system. The UK should be arresting people, not us.
“We believe that the French government and Europe are not being tough enough on the British government,” he told BBC Radio 4.
Bouchart’s latest comments come weeks after she called for a “showdown” between Britain and France to decide a new immigration policy, while Didier Leschi, director general of France’s Immigration Office, declared that migrants see Great Britain as “El Dorado”, a mythical country of wealth.
“The issue for England is to have an internal system that looks like El Dorado – and probably wrongly so – since it is a country where you can work very easily without having a residence permit,” he said in September.
The mayor of Calais has branded British calls for French border police to be tougher on illegal immigration as “sheer hypocrisy” and pushed for a deal between the two countries aimed at cracking down on Channel crossings to be scrapped. of La Mancha.
Migrants board a smuggling boat in an attempt to cross the English Channel, at Gravelines beach, near Dunkirk, northern France.
A Border Force vessel carrying around 100 migrants, including several children, arrives at the Port of Dover on October 31, 2024 in Dover, England.
Official figures show more than 800 migrants crossed the English Channel last week alone, as Sir Keir Starmer declared his government will do “everything we can” to stop the flow of migrants into the UK.
Speaking to reporters on the way to the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro earlier this week, Sir Keir said: ‘I don’t think this is an area where we should do just one thing. We have to do everything we can.
“I am absolutely clear that cracking down on gangs is the most effective way to stop ships crossing the English Channel.
‘People are making a huge amount of money by traveling through various countries to the north coast of France.
“Intercepting and taking down those gangs is hugely important and will be one of the biggest disincentives if we can take down the gangs that run them.”
Earlier this month, the Prime Minister said people smugglers must be treated as “terrorists” as part of efforts to crack down on Channel crossings.
Meanwhile, France and Germany last month called on the UK to start talks on a European deal on migration and asylum, hoping talks with a Labor government led by Sir Keir Starmer could be more “constructive”.
German Interior Minister Nancy Faeser and former French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said Brexit had seriously affected “the coherence of migration policies” and said the European Commission should “rapidly” present “a draft negotiating mandate” for talks with the United Kingdom on asylum and migration.
Migration is a hot topic in the EU and many member states have noted a significant rise in support for far-right parties, largely attributed to lax immigration laws that have seen millions of migrants flow into Western Europe.
On November 1, France reinforced its It borders six of its Schengen member neighbors – namely Belgium, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and Switzerland – with reinforced controls.
The checks applied to travelers entering France via land, sea and air routes from the six countries and will last until April 1, 2025, but authorities have said they could be extended further.
A French government statement stated that the controls were introduced due to “serious threats to public policy, public order and internal security posed by high-level terrorist activities…criminal networks that facilitate irregular migration and smuggling, and migratory flows that run the risk of infiltration by radicalized people”. individuals’.
It is the first time France has introduced such checks since the Covid-19 pandemic and could see migrants and unauthorized travelers turned back at the border and those suspected of criminal activity detained.
Keir Starmer has insisted he is “not relaxed” about net migration levels, which are expected to fall but remain at a historically high level of 315,000 a year in the medium term.
A group of migrants are seen shortly after undertaking the dangerous journey across the English Channel.
British Border Force officers escort migrants to Dover docks in Kent, UK
The UK saw the biggest increase in legal immigration of any major country last year, according to a report.
The OECD put Britain at the top of the international table after long-term inflows rose almost 53 per cent to a record 750,000.
This is a larger increase than any other European state and a more significant jump than the 13.4 percent seen in the United States.
Sir Keir Starmer has insisted he is “not relaxed” about net migration levels, which are expected to fall but remain at a historically high level of 315,000 a year in the medium term.
The latest report ignores Ukrainians seeking asylum amid the fallout from the Russian invasion.
Overall, OECD countries experienced a total influx of more than 6.5 million people in 2023, 10 percent more than the previous year and 28 percent more than in 2019.
‘After an unprecedented increase in 2023, the “The United Kingdom rose to second place with a record 750,000 new immigrants (250,000 more than in 2022, +52 percent),” the report notes.
‘Germany, which had been the second OECD destination since 2012, fell to third place despite a 4 percent increase and almost 700,000 new permanent-type entries.
“Canada followed with 470,000 new permanent immigrants (+7.8 percent), and Spain recorded a 12 percent increase to 360,000.”
the report noted that, in addition to the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, France, Finland, JapanKorea, Luxembourg and Switzerland saw record immigration in 2023.
Overall, OECD countries experienced a total influx of more than 6.5 million people in 2023, 10 percent more than the previous year and 28 percent more than in 2019.
In September, Sir Keir set out measures to reduce over-reliance on migrant labor and boost training in the UK to fill vacancies.
He announced a push to link visa policies to skills needs, so that immigration is not used as an alternative to training or to address workforce issues.
The Migration Advisory Committee has been asked to highlight key sectors where labor market failures have led to soaring overseas recruitment and to provide an annual assessment to ministers.
The Government is also reviewing rules on migrant sponsorship to ensure that employers found guilty of breaking employment laws are banned from recruiting abroad.
The Prime Minister said at the time: ‘This Government’s policy is to reduce both net migration and our economic dependence on it.
“I never thought we should relax about the importation of labor by some sectors when there are millions of young, ambitious and talented people who are desperate to work and contribute.”