French NGOs demand legal routes of access to Great Britain for migrants

Following British Home Secretary, Sajid Javid's claim recently that there is a 'crisis' of migrants trying to come to England on small boats, a group of charities and NGOs in Northern France point out that only a tiny number have tried to come to England by boat; the number of refugees accepted by the UK has decreased, and the reason people risk their lives trying to come to the UK in this dangerous way is because the French authorities treat refugees so harshly.

L'Auberge des Migrants, ACC Minorités Visibles, La Cabane Juridique, Flandre Terre Solidaire, Gynécologie Sans Frontières, Itinérance Cherbourg, MRAP - Littoral dunkerquois, Secours Catholique Caritas France - Délégation Pas de Calais, Terre d'Errance Flandre Littoral, Terre d'Errance Norrent-Fontes, Utopia 56 and LDH Dunkerque have issued the following statement

We denounce the decision by the French government to comply with British demands! The boat crossings have been on the front pages of British tabloids for weeks. In this so-called 'migrant crisis', the French government has once more bowed to the demands of the British authorities. The British Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, announced, in fact, on September 30th, jointly with his French counterpart, M.Castaner, a strong plan of action on the French coast; more surveillance patrols, actions aiming to disband the trafficking gangs, campaigns to raise awareness amongst migrants to the dangers of crossing the Channel, and the surveillance of beaches and ports by police and drones.

Let us recall the simple facts:

According to figures supplied by Great Britain, 630,000 immigrants are admitted there each year. From this figure, the authorities reckon that 70,000 are illegal, including 15,000 who arrive by lorry, cars or containers. And because 239 arrived by boat since the beginning of November, the British authorities dare to talk about a 'crisis'.

In 2017, Great Britain only registered 26,350 asylum applications (there were 121,200 in France). This was 14% lower than the preceding year, against a French rise of 17%. Great Britain, therefore, accepts fewer and fewer asylum applications.

Already, within the framework of the Le Touquet agreement, France builds the walls and the fences, equips the ports of Dunkirk, Calais, the station of Calais-Fréthum and the Tunnel with cameras, projectors, and more and more elaborate control systems for vehicles. Hundreds of police guard the petrol stations, carparks, roundabouts, and do everything to discourage migrants from staying near the border. It is despair which pushes them to risk their lives.

It is the atrocious survival conditions which the French state imposes on migrants, the refusal to consider their asylum applications, or gross refusal of protection, the police violence, which push the migrants to risk their lives on inflatable boats, for their last chance, England.

In this scenario, will M Castaner agree to further reinforcement of coastal surveillance? In this scenario will migrants be prevented from trying to leave France from the beaches or the ports? Does the Le Touquet agreement extend to the beaches, the promontories, the estuaries and fishing ports?

The aid charities for migrants along the length of the French-British border, seriously protest against these costly measures, which are ridiculous, inhumane and ineffective. They demand the opening of legal routes of access towards Great Britain. It is the only way to avoid the dramas unfolding every night in the freezing waters of the English Channel.

See also: BBC 22 January 2019 - Channel migrants issue 'blown out of proportion'
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-kent-46965259

*Sources : www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017/how-many-people-do-we-grant-asylum-or-protection-to

www.migrationwatchuk.org/briefing-paper/455