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Updated November 29th, 2021 at 13:36 IST

EU's Frontex to deploy surveillance plane to monitor migrant activities on Channel shores

Amid surge in migrant influx along the shores of the Channel, the EU border agency, Frontex, has decided to dispatch a surveillance plane to monitor route.

Reported by: Dipaneeta Das
EU
IMAGE: AP | Image:self
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Amid surge in migrant influx along the shores of the English Channel, the European Union border agency, Frontex, has decided to dispatch a surveillance plane to monitor the usual route after 27 asylum seekers died last Wednesday when their inflatable boat floundered in the freezing waters en route to Britain. The decision was agreed on by European migrant officials at an emergency meeting on Sunday in the French port of Calais, as per Associated Press. The leaders at the meeting also pledged to "work together" against migrant smuggling networks and trade in inflatable boats being used frequently by those fleeing Afghanistan.

The planes will begin surveillance from December 1 and operated by Frontex. This will help France, Belgium and Netherlands to monitor the Channel shores and identify smuggling networks, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said on Sunday, as reported by AP. Participants in the meeting included German, Dutch and Belgian ministers, who called for UK's cooperation stressing that the issue has been "complicated" by Britain's departure from the Union earlier this year.

"This meeting was not anti-English. It was pro-European. We want to work with our British friends and allies," Darmanin, as quoted by AP. 

The Sunday meeting remained focused on smuggling networks and chalking out steps to prevent the occurrence of tragedies like the one on Wednesday. According to the Associated Press, the subsequent blame game over the incident has also resulted in the notable absence of UK officials from the gathering at Calais City Hall on Sunday. British Home Secretary Priti Patel expressed her frustration for being uninvited, calling it "unfortunate."

'Take back' the migrants: UK PM

It is pertinent to mention that the Wednesday incident, which is dubbed as 'biggest tragedy' by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin, has sparked a fresh row between France and UK, blaming each other for owning responsibility in the migrant crisis. Earlier, UK PM Boris Johnson urged France to agree to "take back" people in an open letter to French President Emmanuel Macron published on Twitter. Johnson outlined five steps to "move further and faster" and curb the migrant crisis. However, the letter was lambasted by Macron, calling it a protocol breach, which led France to axe a scheduled meeting between Macron and UK Home Secretary Priti Patel.

At least 25,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel to enter the United Kingdom so far this year, with more than 1,000 in a single day in November. As per UK government data, cited by BBC, asylum applications reached the highest level since 2004. Pleas for asylum went up by 18% in 2020 even when pandemic travel restrictions were imposed.

(With inputs from AP, Image: AP)

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Published November 29th, 2021 at 13:36 IST

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