Political blame game begins in earnest after Channel fatalities

After expressions of horror and condemnations of traffickers on Wednesday night following the deaths of 27 migrants in the English Channel, it didn't take long for the leaders of France and Britain to start blaming each other.

British prime minister Boris Johnson complained of "difficulty" in persuading other countries, "particularly the French", to "do things in a way we think the situation deserves".

The Élysée responded in a communiqué on Thursday morning, saying that French president Emmanuel Macron "let Boris Johnson know that he expected the British to co-operate fully and that they must abstain from exploiting a tragic situation for political ends".

The presence of thousands of migrants trying to reach Britain from northern France has been a source of tension between London and Paris for 20 years. In 2003, then interior minister Nicolas Sarkozy signed the Touquet Accords, which virtually moved the British border to the French coast, and required France to stop would-be migrants. But neither closure of migrant camps at Sangatte and the so-called "Jungle", nor the installation of 65km of fence topped with concertina barbed wire around the Channel Tunnel, stanched the flow.

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By the time the Jungle was dismantled five years ago, its tents, shacks and rain-sodden alleys were home to 10,000 migrants. Only half accepted relocation elsewhere in Europe. The rest made their way back to the channel and continued trying to cross the world's busiest shipping lane. From 2018, France and the United Kingdom made it virtually impossible to stow away on lorries going through the tunnel. The migrants then took to the sea.

London says French laxity has caused the huge increase in crossings. About 25,000 migrants have crossed the channel this year, three times more than in 2020. The French note that the UK has not yet paid the €63 million it promised for new patrol boats. In any case, the French say, it is impossible to entirely secure such a long coastline.

Paris says the possibility of working in the UK without a permit acts as a magnet for migrants. Many refugees already have family members in Britain and speak some English; also important factors.

Since the Brexit vote in 2016, French politicians have often expressed irritation with British demands. "France is not the UK's border guard or jailer," said far-left politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon after Wednesday's fatalities. British home secretary Priti Patel confirmed this week that France rejected a proposal for British police officers to help the French patrol the beaches of northern France, on the grounds that it would violate French sovereignty.

Most of the dead migrants were Iraqi or Iranian Kurds. Seventeen were men; seven were women and three were children or adolescents. One of the women was pregnant. They clambered on to a Chinese-made rubber dinghy brought by traffickers to Loon-Plage, near Dunkirk.

French authorities estimate there are close to 20 networks of traffickers active in northern France. Many are the same nationalities as their victims. The three or four biggest groups import the small boats in containers from China and charge between €2,000 and €4,000 for an attempted crossing. On clear, calm days, more than 1,000 migrants set out to sea, often without a compass. It is difficult to survive more than 15 minutes in the icy waters of the Channel at this time of year.

If the crossing is unsuccessful, and if the migrants survive, traffickers allow them to try again without further payment. A network dismantled last week had earned the traffickers close to €3 million in a year, Aujourd’hui en France newspaper reported.

Candlelit vigil

The 27 bodies were taken to a warehouse in Calais port. Outside, several dozen campaigners for migrants’ rights held a candlelit vigil on Wednesday night. “How many dead will it take?” asked a placard held by a young French woman.

NGOs say 300 migrants have lost their lives crossing the Channel in 20 years. Some were crushed by lorries or trains, some died asphyxiated in containers. Wednesday marked the single greatest loss of life by drowning and sparked calls by left-wing politicians and humanitarian organisations on both sides of the Channel for a legal means of immigration to the UK.

The lesson drawn by commentators was that rather than stopping the flow of migrants, security measures drive up the cost and increase the dangers. "As long as England is there, facing them, they will keep trying to cross," Pierre Roques from the Auberge des Migrants association told Aujourd'hui en France.

“The status quo is no longer an option,” noted Le Monde’s editorial. “These bodies floating in the icy waters of the Channel, in the heart of one of the richest regions of the world and a continent whose history is replete with forced exile and deportations, fill us with horror.”