A parliamentary committee in France acknowledged the government's lack of respect for the rights of migrants and refugees, coinciding with the police dismantling a camp for irregular migrants in the north of the country, and the French and British interior ministries agreed to pursue smugglers' networks.

A report prepared by a special committee on immigration and asylum affairs in Parliament described the refugee situation as tragic, stressing that it often represents a humanitarian crisis.

The committee considered that the French state’s treatment of immigrants and asylum seekers does not respond to the most basic values ​​and laws of the French Republic, and does not guarantee the rights of refugees of their different segments, warning against politicizing the asylum file and making it only an issue for electoral competition during the upcoming presidential elections.

In its report, the Commission of Inquiry accused the French Ministry of the Interior of obstructing aid and relief operations for migrants and refugees who live on the streets and in the open in several regions of the country.

Darmanan announces coordination with Britain to pursue smugglers networks (Reuters)

dismantling the camp

On the other hand, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said - on his Twitter account on Tuesday - that the French police are dismantling a camp for illegal immigrants in Grand Synthe, a northern coastal site near Dunkirk.

Darmanan also announced the dismantling of a smuggling network in Dunkirk, and the arrest of 13 people, and wrote in a tweet, "These smugglers are criminals who take advantage of human suffering, and they are also responsible for illegal immigration."

The dismantling of the camp came in the wake of a phone call between Darmanan and his British counterpart Priti Patel on Monday evening, in which Darmanan affirmed that operational cooperation will continue, and joint action against smugglers' networks will be intensified.

"When we dismantle a camp for migrants, we care first of all about putting people in other shelters, especially with the onset of winter," government spokesman Gabriel Attal said in a radio interview.

French police have evacuated 1,500 migrants from a temporary refugee camp on the English Channel, for trying to cross illegally into Britain, and local authorities have been tasked with finding short-term accommodation for the evacuees.

Britain's dissatisfaction with the rising number of migrants crossing the English Channel from French shores has again risen, days after more than a thousand refugees arrived in southern England in a single day last week.

France and Britain trade accusations over the increase in the number of refugees, with Britain accusing France of not deploying sufficient security forces on its coast, while France says that Britain's labor laws attract refugees.

rescue operations

In a related context, the French authorities announced in a statement that they had rescued, on Tuesday, 272 migrants off the "Pas de Calais" strait in the English Channel, who had sailed on rickety boats from the country's northern coast, in an attempt to reach England.

The statement indicated that a naval gendarmerie boat provided 48 people during 3 rescue operations, and a total of 10 remote rescue operations were counted, one of which was carried out by a commercial ship.

According to the French authorities, about 15,400 migrants tried to cross the Channel in the first eight months of this year, including 3,500 who "had difficulties when they were rescued" and were returned to the French coast.

This outcome represents a significant increase in the number of irregular migrants from France to Britain compared to previous years, as the entire year 2020 recorded about 9,500 migrants crossing or attempting to cross, compared to 2,300 migrants in 2019 and 600 in 2018.