UK wants to return migrant boats to France

Migrants rescued from the Channel by British border forces arrive at the port of Dover, Great Britain, September 9, 2021. REUTERS - PETER NICHOLLS

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1 min

With fine weather, more and more of them are attempting to cross the Channel.

And the British Home Secretary now wants the border police to be able to return the boats to the French coast.

An illegal practice, according to Paris.

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With our correspondent, in London,

 Claire Digiacomi

It's a controversial tactic, already adopted by Australia: turn back migrant boats intercepted at sea and force them to turn around.

According to the British press, Home Secretary Priti Patel has approved this technique for the UK, and border police are currently being trained in this method.

► See also: 

The United Kingdom facing a record number of Channel crossings by migrants

In practice, however, this procedure could only be applied in rare cases, when the situation is deemed safe: depending on the size of the boat for example, or the number of passengers.

But for the government, it is above all a question of adding a new tool to its

very hostile policy 

towards immigration and of discouraging those who plan to join the country.

Because the numbers are on the rise.

Since the start of the year, 13,000 migrants have crossed the Channel.

Over 1,500 this week alone. 

Tensions between London and Paris

And this crisis is fueling tensions between London and Paris.

The French Interior Minister, Gérald Darmanin, believes that sending the boats back to France would be “

 contrary to the law of the sea 

”.

He also denounces a " 

blackmail

 " on the part of his counterpart, who threatens to block his financial participation if Paris does not prevent more crossings of migrants.

►

See also: France pushes for a new migration agreement between the EU and the United Kingdom

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  • International Migration

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