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Britain has approved plans to shut out ships carrying migrants and asylum-seekers, deepening its disagreement with France over how to deal with the surge in the number of people risking their lives trying to cross the English Channel in small boats.
This year, hundreds of small boats tried to sail from France to Britain, crossing one of the busiest waterways in the world. The summer peak occurs every year, but now it is larger than normal because the alternative route has been closed.
A British government official, who asked not to be named, said on Thursday that border officials will receive training to force ships away from British waters, but will deploy new strategies only when they think it is safe.
The official said that the British Acting Attorney General Michael Ellis will formulate the legal basis for the new strategy for border officials.
Interior Minister Pritty Patel told French Interior Minister Gerald Damanin that preventing people from leaving France in small boats is her “first priority”.
Patel had already angered the French government earlier this week when she said the UK could withhold about 54 million pounds ($75 million) in funds that promised to help stop the flow of immigrants and refugees.
Dammanen said that Britain must abide by maritime laws and commitments made to France, which include paying funds to help finance French maritime border patrols.
“France will not accept any violation of maritime law, nor will it accept financial extortion,” the French minister wrote on Twitter.
The migrants rescued from the English Channel by the British Border Guard arrived at the Port of Dover in Dover, England [Peter Nicholls/Reuters]France has a policy that unless ships seek help, they will not intercept or return ships, but escort them to British waters.
This aroused the anger of the Brexit-supporting parts of the British media and the London government, who accused France of evading responsibility.
France has stated that it will not make payments “on the condition of a digital target” and warned that doing so would damage the relationship.
A source from the French Ministry of the Interior said: “This approach will reflect a serious loss of our confidence in cooperation.”
In a letter leaked to the British media, Dammanen stated that forcing ships to return to the French coast would be dangerous, and “protecting human life at sea takes precedence over nationality, status and immigration policy considerations.”
The British Home Office or the Home Office said: “We do not routinely comment on marine operations.”
Political
Downing Street insisted that the new British plan “will not violate maritime law.”
It also rejected the claims of blackmail, stating that “we have provided a lot of funds to our French counterparts, and we have agreed to another bilateral agreement backed by millions of pounds.”
According to the “Daily Telegraph” report, the new strategy reported by the United Kingdom has been tested for months under the supervision of the Royal Marines.
However, Border Force officials told ministers that this strategy can only be used in certain situations and is not a “magic bullet”, it added.
Charities say these plans may be illegal, and some British politicians say this idea will not work.
Channel Rescue, a citizen patrol team looking for immigrants and refugees arriving along the British coast, said that international maritime law stipulates that ships have a clear responsibility to help people in distress.
Clare Moseley, the founder of Care4Calais, a charity that helps immigrants, said the plan would put the lives of immigrants and refugees at risk. “They don’t want to be deported. They can definitely try diving,” she said.
The ruling Conservative Party MP Tim Lawton said that this strategy will never be used because people will “inevitably” drown.
“In any case, any high-speed ship will capsize most of these ships, and then we see people having trouble in the water and drowning,” he said.
A spokesman for Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the government is exploring a range of safe and legal options to stop ships.
After the British and French governments cracked down on other forms of illegal entry (such as hiding behind trucks passing through French ports), the number of migrants and refugees crossing the strait in small boats has increased this year.
Compared with the influx of immigrants into countries that host millions of refugees, such as Lebanon and Turkey, the number of people trying to reach Britain in small boats—about 13,000 so far in 2021—is insignificant.
But this issue has become the call of Johnson’s Conservative Party politicians. Immigration is the core issue of the 2016 Brexit referendum decision.
France and the United Kingdom agreed in July to deploy more police and invest in detection technology to prevent crossings. French police confiscated more boats, but they said they could not completely prevent the departure.
British Junior Health Minister Helen Whately said that the government’s focus is still to stop migrants from trying to travel, not to keep them out.
The British opposition Labour Party criticized this new method for putting lives at risk and stated that the priority should be to combat population smuggling gangs.
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