The French interior minister Gérald Darmanin has called for a migration agreement between the EU and Great Britain. This should also settle the refugee dispute between Paris and London. Darmanin said on Sunday that a European treaty would be in favor of solving the problems of asylum applications, deportations and family reunification. The issue was not taken into account in the Brexit negotiations and will therefore be on the timetable of the French EU Council Presidency, which starts on January 1st.
The number of people who reached the English coast this year, according to the BBC, was already over 13,000, in the whole of last year 2020, according to the British Home Office, 8,417 people were counted.
According to a count by the British news agency PA, there were even more than 17,000 in 2021 - more than twice as many as in 2020.
In the past two days, British ships had rescued or apprehended more than 1,100 migrants attempting to cross the English Channel into the UK.
On Friday, a total of 624 migrants were picked up in 23 missions, on Saturday there were 491 people in 17 missions.
During the same period, the French authorities reportedly prevented 414 migrants from crossing to Great Britain.
As the French news agency AFP announced on Twitter, the French minister also asked London to provide the 62.7 million euros agreed in July for border security.
A few weeks ago, the British Home Secretary Priti Patel indicated that the funds could also be withheld if France does not prevent the smugglers from casting more firmly.
According to Darmanin, however, the coast guard has stopped almost two thirds of all boats launched in France in the past three months.
Before, it was only half.
Darmanin had visited Loon-Plage and Marck on the French coast on Saturday, where migrants try to cross the English Channel every day to get to England.