After a boat accident in the English Channel: With air surveillance against the smugglers

The EU states want to take tougher action against smugglers in the English Channel. From Wednesday on, a Frontex aircraft is to be used for air surveillance. The meeting was triggered by a boat accident in which 27 people were killed.

At a crisis meeting on migration across the English Channel, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany agreed to fight smugglers tougher. Great Britain, the destination of refugees crossing over in small boats, has been called on to create legal migration routes, said France’s Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin after the meeting in Calais. In addition, Great Britain must make the illegal employment of refugees more difficult.

An aircraft from the EU border protection agency Frontex is to monitor the coasts of France, the Netherlands and Belgium more closely. Darmanin added that the machine will start operating on December 1st. At the same time he emphasized the humanitarian dimension. It does not help to criminalize the refugees, the French police want to save lives with their work on the coast.

France and Great Britain want to continue advising

A few days ago there were 27 people on their way to Great Britain in the English Channel died because her boat capsized. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson then called for an agreement with France to take back migrants. France reacted indignantly and invited Great Britain out of the current meeting.

“Since the beginning of the year, our police officers have saved 7,800 lives. 7,800 people who have not been out to sea thanks to our efforts,” said Darmanin. According to the French Home Office, 1,000 police officers are on duty to secure the British border on the northern French coast. 1500 smugglers were arrested this year alone.

But it is also correct: the number of crossings from France to Great Britain has tripled within a year. This year alone there were around 25,000. For Darmanin, the cause is obvious: “The refugees come here to Calais and risk the crossing because they are allowed to work in Great Britain without proof of identity. But also because there is no longer any possibility in England there to apply for asylum. “

Great Britain calls for cooperation

Darmanin emphasized that he would continue to consult with his British counterpart Priti Patel. “We want to work with the British, the British are our allies.” However, France does not want to be made hostage to British domestic policy, for which migration policy is a hot topic at the moment.

Patel also called for cooperation again. “Britain cannot solve this problem on its own, we in Europe must all work harder, take responsibility and work together in the crisis,” she said. Otherwise “even worse scenes in the ice-cold water” threatened in the next few months.

BBC showed the extent of the tragedy in the English Channel

At the weekend, the extent of the tragedy was shown once again: The BBC spoke to relatives of one of the women who had an accident in the English Channel. The fiancé of the 24-year-old Maryam Nuri Mohamed Amin told the broadcaster that his partner had written to him shortly before her death that her inflatable boat was losing air, but rescue was on the way – in the end, however, any help came too late.

The young woman from Iraq wanted to surprise her partner in Great Britain. “When she left Kurdistan, she was very happy. She could hardly believe that she was going to meet her fiancé,” said her best friend, Imann Hassan. “She wanted to live a better life. She chose Britain, but she died.”