Three hundred and forty-two migrants who were trying to reach England on makeshift boats were rescued Sunday, October 10, 1,115 had been rescued or intercepted on Friday and Saturday. The subject is a source of friction between London and Paris.
To defuse tensions, the British government announced Monday, October 11, that it was going to pay France the money promised to fight against the smuggling of migrants from the French coasts. Asked by the BBC on the date on which this money would be handed over to France, British Home Secretary Damian Hinds said he expected this question to be “Finalized in the coming weeks”. Mr. Hinds said it was a “Administrative process” rather than a “Political question” which had delayed the obtaining of the money by France.
Promise of financial support
During a trip on Saturday to Loon-Plage, in northern France, Gerald Darmanin, the French Minister of the Interior, asked the British government to honor its commitment to pay France 62.7 million. euros in 2021-2022 to finance the strengthening of the French police forces on the coasts. “We call on the English to keep their promise of funding, since we hold the border for them”, he had declared. Mr. Darmanin had also called for a migration treaty to be negotiated between the EU and the United Kingdom.
Since the end of 2018, illegal crossings of the Channel by migrants seeking to reach the United Kingdom have increased despite repeated warnings from the authorities, which underline the danger linked to the density of traffic, strong currents and the low water temperature.
According to the tally of the British press agency PA, more than 17,000 migrants have managed since the beginning of the year to make the crossing to England on board small boats, more than double that on the whole of year 2020.
The British government has started to pass a controversial bill reforming the asylum system and providing for tougher penalties, increasing to life in prison, against the current fourteen years, the maximum penalty for smugglers.