Caught in the political crossfire between France and the UK, thousands of migrants, trying to escape poverty and persecution, are risking their lives in the perilous water of the English Channel. These migrants are mainly from Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea and Sudan.
A humanitarian crisis is snowballing in Europe, but France and the UK are busy playing a blame game. The flashpoint came after 27 migrants including 17 men, seven women and three teenagers, perished November 24 when their boat, an inflated dinghy, sank in the English Channel. This is the biggest tragedy ever, as France’s Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said, involving migrants on the dangerous crossing till date. In all, 31 people were believed to have been on the boat. Their nationalities are still not known. The disaster was only waiting to happen. There seems to an endless stream of people who have been risking their lives in perilous journeys in small inflated tubes that are not seaworthy at all. This is being done in the hope of getting asylum or better opportunities in Britain. In the latest mishap four suspected traffickers were arrested on suspicion of being linked to the sunken boat. ‘Human smugglers’ have been operating in this lucrative business of ferrying migrants to European countries. As Darmanin pointed out, “It’s a day of great mourning for France and Europe for humanity to see these people die at sea.” The minister also lashed out at criminal traffickers luring thousands to cross the English Channel at great risk to their lives.
Britain’s Prime Minister Boris Johnson did not lag behind when he expressed his shock and urged France to step up efforts to stem the flow of migrants across the English Channel. He did not waste time blaming France for the tragedy which, according to him, highlighted how efforts by French authorities to patrol their beaches “have not been enough.” The two governments have long been at loggerheads over how to prevent the crossings, with each side blaming the other for not doing enough.
Both, French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson are busy furthering their political interests as a diplomatic row has erupted between the two countries. France has cancelled its invitation to British home secretary Priti Patel who was scheduled to hold talks on this issue in Paris November 28. Macron is going to face the electorate soon in the Presidential election and migrants’ plight is a major issue. On the other hand, Johnson has to serve his supporters with huge funds who are dead against the tide of migrants flowing into the country which the pro-Brexit Johnson-government is committed to stem.
Migrants from around the world have long been using northern France as a launching pad to reach Britain. They have been stowing away in trucks or in dinghies and other small boats organised by smugglers to reach the UK. People fleeing conflict at home have been flocking to towns in northern France for the past few years. The number of such migrants using small boats to cross the channel has grown sharply this year, despite the high risks that are worsening in autumn weather. This is because the COVID-19 pandemic has made it virtually impossible for the migrants to hide themselves in trucks and cross over to the UK, as the pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the movement of trucks. Over 25,700 people have made the dangerous journey in small boats this year alone. This is three times the total for the whole of 2020. French and British authorities have picked up thousands of migrants off both the French and British coasts in recent weeks in scores of rescue operations.
But, their efforts are not good enough and there is need for devising better ways to avert repeated human tragedies. Tom Davies, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights campaign manager, has eloquently summed up the situation when he lamented, “How many more times must we see people lose their life trying to reach safety in the UK because of the woeful lack of safe means to do so?” For years, smugglers have been at work sending migrants to Europe, especially in the UK where the labour policy is such that hired workers need not produce identity cards.
This makes the UK the most coveted destination for such migrants leading to tragedies on both land and sea routes. The most horrific case was the death of 39 Vietnamese people who were found dead in a refrigerated truck in 2019.
Europe’s migration policy is undoubtedly flawed as the flow of migrants is continuing despite the European countries grudgingly accepting migrants into their soils. For example, 83,000 asylum applications were lodged in France over the past year against 31,000 in the UK. In 2020, the UK registered 5.78 asylum seekers and refugees per 10,000 inhabitants against 16.93 by France, 19.52 by Germany and 60.57 by Greece.
The Anglo-French tussle stems from the fact that the rule for detecting and handling migrants in a humane way that was being followed in the European Union is no longer valid for the UK after the latter implemented its Brexit policy. Under that rule France cooperated with Britain as the onus of bearing the burden of migrants is on the first country where they are found. But after Brexit, the UK is not bound to accept the migrants who set their feet first on its soil. For this reason, it wants stricter vigilance in northern France and is ready to work jointly with France. This runs counter to France’s interests of letting its territory to be used as the migrants’ gateway to the UK.
The war of words – Johnson’s letter to France on the migrants’ death posted in his Twitter handle and Macron’s sharp reaction – does not help matters apart from scoring political brownie points. The two countries need to put their heads together and find a way out of the human tragedy being enacted on both their territories.