France-Britain: Migrant crisis opens old wounds

Calais: France reacted with fury to Britain’s latest proposals for dealing with the deadly flow of migrants between their shores as the war of words between the two countries over the dangerous crossings across the English Channel ramped up further. In a public letter to the French President British PM Boris Johnson laid out a series of proposals of how the two countries can deal with the crisis, following the sinking of a boat on Wednesday that saw 27 people die. The letter, which was made public on social media, was deemed “unacceptable” by French govt spokesman Gabriel Attal. As a result, he said Britain’s Home Secretary Priti Patel was no longer welcome at a European meeting on Sunday to discuss the problem. Among his recommendations, Johnson asked that France take back all migrants who cross illegally from its shores to Britain. Attal dismissed the idea as “clearly not what we need to solve this problem.” He said the letter “doesn’t correspond at all” with discussions that Johnson and Macron had Wednesday after the tragedy.

Johnson also set out proposals for British border officials to begin patrols on the beaches of northern France as early as next week — something Paris has long resisted. More than 23,000 people have already entered the U.K. on small boats this year, up from 8,500 last year and just 300 in 2018, according to data compiled by Parliament.