The French government is seeking a new deal with Britain on illegal immigration – not so that boat migrants can be returned to their shores, but so that they can direct even more migrants on to the UK.
France’s push to “expel, or direct a certain number of migrants to the UK so they can request asylum” marks the latest humiliation for Home Secretary Priti Patel MP, the government minister with broad responsibility for border control, policing, and national security in the Boris Johnson administration.
Patel, who was elevated to head of the Home Office as an MP with something of a tough reputation, had promised that the Channel migrant crisis — first declared a “major incident” by the government all the way back in 2018 — when Britain was freed from European Union rules at the beginning of this year, but it has only gotten worse, with the arrival of over 800 illegals on Saturday marking yet another new record for a single day.
The Johnson administration has long tied its own hands behind its back by declining to simply turn boat migrants back at sea, given none of them face peril or persecution in France, insisting on trying to cook up a deal with France and the wider European Union on returns.
Such a prospect now seems dimmer than ever, with the country’s Europe minister, Clement Beaune, saying it does want a deal with Britain — but one to let them direct even more migrants to the United Kingdom.
“We must, after Brexit, have a new migratory deal no doubt between the EU and Britain so that we can expel, or direct a certain number of migrants to the UK so they can request asylum,” Beaune said to CNews, according to a Telegraph report.
“It’s [Britain’s] responsibility,” the Frenchman insisted.
“We have seen sometimes that it is the attractiveness of Britain’s asylum system that is in question,” he continued, complaining that “We are the ones who have paid a high price over the past 10 years – we see it in Calais regarding organisation, humanitarian aid and police checks.”
“Monsieur Beanune needs his eyes testing. Day after day, French boats are escorting migrants into UK waters. We would love a new deal with the EU or France,” a Conservative source told the Telegraph in response.
“But so far both are refusing to discuss it. We are reforming the system through our New Plan for Immigration and would suggest that he has a read of that before making such nonsensical comments,” the source continued, echoing well-worn Home Office lines on the Channel crisis which have yet to do anything to ameliorate it.
The French position that it is Tory weakness on illegal immigration that is encouraging migrants to flock to their shores seeking passage to England is not without some merit, however, given the reality behind Home Office claims that it will fix the “broken system”.
The Home Office attempts a shockingly small number of deportations, despite nobody who arrives in the country via France having any reasonable claim to have been in danger there, and such deportations as it does attempt are often either thwarted by judges or by anti-borders mobs.
In the meantime, boat migrants are usually given free food, Internet, and accommodation in smart hotels, from which they can roam freely — providing a strong “pull factor” by illegal border crossings.
Illegal migrants claiming to be “children” aged up to 17 are also not subject to medical checks by the British, making it easy for people who destroy their identifying documents prior to their arrival to game the system even further.
The Home Office has had less difficulty in importing more supposed refugees, however, boasting that it ships in more people than any other country in Europe — which perhaps explains why it was thought appropriate to award big pay rises all round despite their manifest failure to get a grip in illegal immigration.
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