The French Minister of the Interior canceled talks with the Minister of the Interior Priti Patel about the strait ship crisis. Boris Johnson Call on France to bring back to England those who crossed the English Channel in small boats.
After 27 people died in the strait, the political crisis escalated. Patel’s opponent Gérald Darmanin said France Disappointed with demand.
“Publishing it to the public makes things worse,” he said.
Johnson proposed five steps in his letter to the president Emmanuel Macron So as not to repeat the tragedy of Wednesday. In a message seen by Agence France-Presse, Dammanen told Patel that Johnson’s letter to Macron implied that France had withdrawn immigrants who had crossed the English Channel, which was a “disappointment”.
Speaking of Johnson’s social media letter, he added: “To make it public will make the situation worse. Therefore, I need to cancel our Sunday meeting in Calais.”
France plans to hold a meeting on the refugee crisis in Calais on Sunday, with ministers from all states along the strait, including Patel.
A source close to Dammanin told AFP and French media that the meeting will be held with ministers from other European countries, but said that Patel would no longer be invited after Johnson’s “unacceptable” letter.
“We believe that the British Prime Minister’s open letter is unacceptable and runs counter to our discussions with colleagues,” said the source, who asked not to be named.
“so, Pritty Patel No longer invited to participate in Sunday’s inter-ministerial meeting, which is reserved in the form of France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and the European Commission. “
Johnson wrote to Macron on Thursday, demanding that France immediately begin to withdraw all immigrants who arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel, and published the full text of the letter on Twitter in an unusual way.
He said bringing back migrants “will greatly reduce-if not stopped-border crossings, and save thousands of lives by fundamentally breaking the business model of criminal gangs,” he said.
Johnson’s letter also listed areas for enhanced cooperation with France, and proposed joint border patrols, aerial surveillance, and intelligence sharing.
The new dispute has increased the tension between Britain and France after Brexit. On Friday, French fishermen will block the channel ferry port and prevent cargo from entering the channel tunnel to protest fishing rights.
On Thursday night, Johnson published a letter calling for joint patrols to prevent ships from leaving French beaches; technologies such as sensors and radars; mutual maritime patrols and aerial surveillance; better sharing of intelligence to arrest and prosecute human smugglers; and with France Bilateral returns agreements and negotiations for the establishment of a UK-EU return agreement.
