Status: 07/25/2021 10:34 a.m.
Because of the increasing number of migrants trying to come to the UK via the English Channel, France is calling for the Frontex operation to be expanded. The EU border guards would also have to be active on the northern borders.
The French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin demands that the EU border protection agency Frontex should also be active on the EU’s northern borders. Darmanin said in the port city of Calais that he contacted Frontex himself and asked that it also take care of northern Europe, especially the strait between France and Great Britain.
In recent years, numerous refugees and migrants have tried to get to England in boats across the English Channel. Because of the high volume of traffic in the strait, the strong currents and the cold temperatures, the crossing is associated with numerous risks. Nevertheless, migrants from France keep making the dangerous crossing. They often come from refugee camps, and many use the services of people smugglers.
France and Great Britain want to work together
Darmanin welcomed the agreement between Great Britain and France last week, according to which London wants to support Paris with almost 63 million euros in curbing illegal migration. France had promised to deploy more security forces along the coast.
Last year, according to the French authorities, more than 9,500 people tried to cross the English Channel, more than four times as many as in 2019. Six people died and three were reported missing.
British authorities expect further increases
This year the number of people who have managed to cross the strait in small boats from the continent to England is already higher than in all of last year. According to figures from the British Home Office, at least 8,452 migrants had reached the English coast by this week. Last Monday alone, 430 people illegally crossed the English Channel towards Great Britain within 24 hours.
According to a media report, the British authorities are expecting several thousand migrants this year. According to the Times newspaper, the number could rise to around 22,000 in the course of the year. Citing sources at the border authorities, it is said that the calculation corresponds to the authorities’ expectations.
Patel plans tougher asylum law
The British Home Secretary Priti Patel announced that in the long term, asylum seekers who enter the country via illegal routes will be given fewer rights than others. Looking at other countries, the number of asylum seekers in the United Kingdom is comparatively low: in Germany more than 100,000 first-time asylum applications were made in 2020, in the United Kingdom around 32,000 people applied for asylum within twelve months to March 2021.