An aircraft belonging to the European border protection agency Frontex will monitor the English Channel “day and night” from December 1st.

The French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin announced this on Monday in a televised talk on BFM-TV.

He referred to the international connections behind the "terrible and unworthy" rubber dinghy accident last week in the English Channel with 27 deaths.

Michaela Wiegel

Political correspondent based in Paris.

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"One of the two surviving migrants had only been on our territory for six days," said Darmanin. He had come from Germany, where he didn't want to stay any more than in France. The man, a Kurd from Iraq, took an organized charter flight to Minsk, from there to Poland and Germany, always with the aim of getting to Great Britain.

The French Home Secretary said UK asylum legislation does not allow any other option than illegal entry to apply for asylum.

That must change, demanded Darmanin.

France has rescued 7,800 migrants in distress since the beginning of the year.

12,000 migrants have been accommodated in France.

On the English Channel coast between Calais and Dunkirk, around 2,000 migrants were constantly in the hope of an illegal crossing to England.

Refugee organizations distributed 2,200 hot meals a day.

However, they were not to be induced to apply for asylum in France, even if they were entitled to it.

"She chose Great Britain, but she died"

The fate of the 24-year-old Iraqi woman Maryam Nuri Mohamed Amin, one of the 27 victims of the boat accident, has particularly touched the French. The young woman from a Kurdish family wanted to see her fiancé living in Great Britain. The man told the British broadcaster BBC that his fiancée had written to him shortly before her death that her dinghy was losing air, but that she was hoping to be rescued. "When she left Kurdistan, she was very happy, she could hardly believe that she was going to meet her fiancé," said her best friend, Imann Hassan. "She wanted to live a better life, she chose Great Britain, but she died."

At a crisis meeting in Calais on Sunday, the French Interior Minister Darmanin and the interior ministers of Belgium and the Netherlands agreed on a tough fight against smugglers. Germany was represented in Calais by Parliamentary State Secretary Stephan Mayer. EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson and Frontex Director Fabrice Leggeri also took part in the deliberations. They agreed to put more pressure on countries of origin to readmit their citizens. At the same time, they called on the British government to create legal migration routes. They called for better police and intelligence cooperation with London. France has long complained that relevant information about smuggling networks is not being passed on by the competent authorities in Great Britain.

France had removed Britain from the meeting after British Prime Minister Boris Johnson called for an agreement with France to take back all migrants. Darmanin stressed that he would continue to consult with his British counterpart Priti Patel. "We want to work with the British, the British are our allies," said Darmanin. He had the impression, however, that there was a sharp contrast between the public statements and direct discussions with the minister. Darmanin referred to the difficult work of the police on the English Channel coast. He came to speak of a Reuters report, which led to outrage in the British press because the police apparently let a rubber dinghy with migrants put out to sea. Darmanin said the fugitives threatened toThrowing babies into the freezing water if they are prevented from leaving. Therefore, the officials did not intervene.