France Wants EU-UK Deal on Illegal Immigration

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French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin announced on Monday France's desire to reach an agreement between the EU and Britain on illegal immigration in the English Channel after over 31 migrants drowned.

Darmanin stressed to the press the need for such an agreement that "would set the framework for cooperation between Britain and bordering countries on immigration issues that were not negotiated at the time of Brexit."

No reconsiderations to Touquet agreements

The French Minister of the Interior added that there would be no reconsideration of the Touquet agreements on the Franco-British border.

Darmanin also revealed the Frontex agency would deploy a plane on Wednesday, to assist the French, Dutch, and Belgian police in monitoring the coast.

Nations agreed in an emergency European meeting on Sunday in Calais to improve joint cooperation with the UK in confronting the smuggling of migrants.

The meeting was attended by the ministers or officials in charge of immigration affairs from France, Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium, in addition to the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, and the directors of the European police agencies (Europol) and the border (Frontex), and the British were absent due to the ongoing tensions between London and Paris.

Participants jointly declared that they would commit to doing everything in their power to combat the criminal networks of smugglers more effectively.

Tensions rose last week between Paris and London after France canceled Britain's participation in the meeting on the migrant crisis.

As of November 20, 31.500 migrants have sailed from the French coast since the beginning of 2021, 7800 of whom have been intercepted. Before the drowning incident last Wednesday, the number of victims since January was 3, in addition to 4 gone missing.