Migration crisis UK to toughen penalties against illegal migrants
British Home Secretary
Priti Patel has
approved a new measure to return vessels crossing the English Channel to France carrying irregular migrants trying to reach the United Kingdom, several British newspapers reported on Thursday.
According to these newspapers, the British border force is being trained in new methods to force the boats to turn around before they reach the southern shores of England.
To do this,
The Times
said
, Patel has asked
for the UK's interpretation of international maritime law
to
be rewritten.
This strategy, endorsed by Prime Minister
Boris Johnson
, would only be used in "very limited circumstances," according to
The Daily Telegraph
, for larger vessels and when it is deemed safe to do so.
After having "constructive discussions" with her French counterpart, Gerard Darmanin, on Wednesday in London, the British minister said on Twitter that she wanted to obtain "results" and
make the cessation of these journeys "a top priority".
But in a letter to Patel dated Monday, Darmanin warned that this offshore return "could have a negative impact on cooperation" between the two countries, whose relations are already strained since Brexit.
"At sea, the safeguarding of human life has priority over nationality, status and immigration policy considerations, in strict compliance with international maritime law, which organizes search and rescue at sea," he insisted.
London, for whom controlling immigration has been a priority since Brexit, wants to make these dangerous Channel crossings impossible and has long pushed for France to redouble its efforts to avoid them.
In recent weeks there have been
record numbers of irregular migrant arrivals,
encouraged by good weather on the high seas.
On Monday, 785 immigrants arrived in the United Kingdom by this means, after a
daily record of 828 people
had been registered in August
,
bringing the total for the year to more than 13,000, according to the British news agency PA.
In his letter, Darmanin rejected the British proposal to create a "single joint command center" for French and British forces as contrary to French sovereignty and unnecessary since coordination on the ground is already "good and effective".
And he stressed that the increase in the number of immigrants disembarking in the UK is mainly due to the use of larger boats by human traffickers.
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