So far this year, six people have died trying to cross the Channel to England. (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
A top French politician has accused Emmanuel Macron’s government of “political failure” in handling the English Channel migrant crisis. Six people have drowned while making the perilous journey to England so far this year, a criminal investigation launched by prosecutors on Friday into the latest disaster at a beach near Boulogne-sur-Mer. French police were accused of finding two unidentified men and two women swept away by the ocean waves around 7:30 a.m. Thursday.
It came after President Macron’s government in Paris firmly rejected British proposals to stop overcrowded migrant boats in French waters. Natacha Bouchart, who has been mayor of Calais for 18 years, described the deaths as “another devastating event” and called on the government to commit more resources and a “clear strategy” to avoid future “tragedies”.
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Emmanuel Macron has been criticized for his ‘failures’ in handling the migrant crisis (Image: Getty)
“Every time, the same story emerges – men, women, sometimes children, handed over to unscrupulous smugglers, forced onto makeshift boats, risking their lives,” he said.
“But the same political failure every time.”
Ms Bouchart said she and other coastal mayors raised persistent “warnings” over the crisis, but France’s interior minister – the equivalent of the home secretary – Laurent Nunez ignored them.
“Silence is a mistake,” he said. “We have repeatedly contacted Interior Minister Laurent Nunez. He has never responded.
“Let me be clear – (Mr. Nunez)’s inaction now makes him accountable.”
Mr Nunez, a former Paris police prefect, did not immediately respond to Ms Bouchart’s sharp criticism.
Meanwhile, Cécile Gresier, the public prosecutor in Boulogne, confirmed that police “did not intervene” in trying to prevent the deaths on Thursday.
Instead, they saw that the so-called “taxi boat” they were trying to reach was continuing on its journey to Britain with about 30 people on board. Taxi boats are vessels launched by smugglers on inland waterways, such as canals, before picking up migrants on beaches around Boulogne, Calais and Dunkirk.
Officials oppose intervention at sea because of the dangers involved.
Two other migrants – an Afghan man and one from Sudan – died exactly a week earlier, on 1 April, in gravelines near Dunkirk, under exactly the same circumstances.
Commenting on the latest deaths, Ms Gresier said: “An investigation has been launched to identify the perpetrators, the trafficking networks involved and bring these individuals to justice.”
Six migrants have died on the cross-Channel route this year, including 29 who are expected to lose their lives in 2025. French figures show that last year about 50,000 people attempted the crossing from France in 795 boats.
It came as a plan to allow British boats to intercept migrants at sea and allow them to return to France was strongly rejected by President Macron’s government.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood wanted to deploy her department’s Border Force fleet in a “more active role” in the English Channel to reduce the number of asylum seekers reaching Britain.
Ms Mahmood suggested the Border Force interception option as part of talks to renew a multi-million pound migrant patrol deal during a deadlock in talks between London and Paris.
This would have seen 11 British ships, including six 42-metre Border Force cutters, reinforcing French patrols at sea. The British would have intercepted the small boats before they reached British waters, picked up the migrants on board and taken them back to northern France.
But a government source in Paris said: “The idea was strongly rejected as British government officials are not supposed to operate in French territorial waters.”
France and Britain have agreed to a temporary two-month extension of an existing agreement that pays for French police to patrol beaches for migrants, after talks over new terms failed.
The UK will pay France £16.5 million to cover the cost of around 700 police officers patrolling northern France until May, the equivalent of £275,000 a day or £2 million a week.
This expansion was officially designed to prevent an increase in migrant crossings during the current good season.
