France beefs up sea rescue work, migrants vow to pursue UK quest

DUNKIRK, France/ZAGREB, Nov 25 (Reuters) – France stated on Thursday it can beef up the surveillance of its northern shores, however migrants huddling in makeshift camps stated neither that nor a tragic drowning the day earlier than would cease them from making an attempt to cross the Channel to Britain.

Seventeen males, seven women and three youngsters died on Wednesday when their dinghy deflated within the Channel, one in all many such dangerous journeys tried in rickety, overloaded boats by folks fleeing poverty and struggle in Afghanistan, Iraq and past.

The deaths deepened animosity between Britain and France, already at odds over Brexit, with Prime Minister Boris Johnson saying France was at fault and French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin accusing Britain of “bad immigration management”.

With relations fraught over Brexit and immigration, a lot of the deal with Thursday was on who ought to bear duty, even when each side vowed to search joint options.

President Emmanuel Macron defended Paris’s actions however stated France was merely a transit nation for a lot of migrants and extra European cooperation was wanted to deal with unlawful immigration.

“I will … say very clearly that our security forces are mobilised day and night,” Macron stated throughout a go to to the Croatian capital Zagreb, promising “maximum mobilisation” of French forces, with reservists and drones watching the coast.

“But above all, we need to seriously strengthen cooperation … with Belgium, the Netherlands, Britain and the European Commission.”

“MAYBE WE DIE”

Wednesday’s incident was the worst of its type on document within the waterway separating Britain and France, one of many world’s busiest delivery lanes.

But migrants in a small makeshift camp within the outskirts of Dunkirk, close to the seashore, stated they’d maintain making an attempt to attain Britain, no matter the risks.

“Yesterday is sad and it is scary but we have to go by boat, there is no other way,” stated 28-year previous Manzar, a Kurd from Iran, huddled by a fireplace alongside a couple of pals.

“Maybe it’s dangerous, maybe we die, but maybe it will be safe. We have to try our chance. It’s a risk, we already know it is a risk,” stated the younger man, who left Iran six months in the past and arrived in France 20 days in the past, after strolling throughout Europe.

Britain on Thursday repeated a suggestion to have joint British-French patrols off the French coast close to Calais.

Paris has resisted such calls and it’s unclear whether or not it can change its thoughts 5 months earlier than a presidential election through which migration and safety are necessary matters.

They are additionally delicate points in Britain, the place Brexit campaigners informed voters that leaving the European Union would imply regaining management of the nation’s borders. London has prior to now threatened to reduce monetary help for France’s border policing if Paris fails to stem the circulate of migrants.

One smuggler arrested in a single day had purchased dinghies in Germany, and lots of cross through Belgium earlier than reaching France’s northern shores on their means to Britain, French officers stated.

EU Migration Commissioner Ylva Johansson stated she would speak to Darmanin afterward Thursday to supply monetary assist and help from the bloc’s border guard drive Frontex.

‘A TRAGEDY THAT WE DREADED’

Rescue volunteers and rights teams stated such drowning incidents had been to be anticipated as smugglers and migrants take extra dangers to keep away from a rising police presence.

“To accuse only the smugglers is to hide the responsibility of the French and British authorities,” the Auberge de Migrants NGO stated. It and different NGOs pointed to a scarcity of authorized migration routes and added safety on the Eurotunnel undersea rail link, which has pushed migrants to attempt the perilous sea crossing.

“This a tragedy that we dreaded, that was expected, we had sounded the alarm,” stated Bernard Barron, head of the Calais area SNSM, a volunteer group which rescues folks at sea.

But Britain rejected one of many NGOs’ important calls for.

Providing a secure route for migrants to declare asylum from France would solely add to pull components encouraging folks to make harmful journeys, Johnson’s spokesman stated when asked about the opportunity of a secure technique of claiming asylum from France.

The variety of migrants crossing the Channel has surged to 25,776 to this point in 2021, up from 8,461 in 2020 and 1,835 in 2019, in accordance to the BBC, citing authorities knowledge.

Before Wednesday’s catastrophe, 14 folks had drowned this yr making an attempt to attain Britain, a French official stated. In 2020, seven folks died and two disappeared, whereas in 2019 4 died.

Reporting by Ardee Napolitano in Calais, Lucien Libert in Zagreb, Alistair Smout, Paul Sandle and Kylie MacLellan in London, Richard Lough and Sudip Kar-Gupta in Paris, Gabriel Baczynska in Brussels; Writing by Ingrid Melander; Editing by Mike Collett-White, Timothy Heritage, Giles Elgood, William Maclean

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