541 million euros
Brits pay France for migrant camps
03/10/2023, 5:40 p.m
Great Britain wants to prevent future migrants from entering the country illegally. Since many of them cross over by boats from France, Paris is to set up an internment camp. The government in London will pay more than 500 million euros for this over the next three years.
In the fight against unwanted migration across the English Channel, Great Britain will pay France more than half a billion euros over the next three years. This is to finance a new detention center in northern France, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. This more than doubles the annual payments from London to Paris. “Criminal gangs shouldn’t decide who comes to our countries,” said Sunak.
A new command center is also to be built with the 541 million euros, and 500 additional border guards as well as modern drones and surveillance technology are to be used. The prime minister emphasized that it was a common challenge. Macron stressed that border guards prevented 1,300 boat crossings last year. More than 500 suspected smugglers were arrested.
Both politicians emphasized their desire for a political restart. “Relationships between our countries have been strained in recent years and I don’t just mean that you threw England out of the World Cup,” said Sunak. The first top meeting in five years is a “new beginning”. “We left the EU, but not Europe,” said Sunak.
Illegal migrants lose their right to asylum
Sunak recently announced a new asylum law. It provides for almost all migrants who enter the country without official permission to be detained initially in accommodation such as former military bases or student dormitories. After that they should be expelled to Rwanda or other countries. The right to apply for asylum should be taken away from them. The British government has admitted that the project is pushing the limits of international law.
As French President Emmanuel Macron said, France cannot negotiate an agreement with Britain alone to take back refugees, it is an EU matter. After Brexit, Great Britain can no longer apply the Dublin regulation that applies in the EU, according to which migrants can be sent back to another EU country if they have already stopped there on their flight.
According to Macron, the channeling of migration must be tackled jointly by all European countries. This should include transit countries as well as countries from which the smugglers who organized the crossing of migrants in rubber boats across the English Channel operated.