French President draws flak for not inviting UK to EU talks on Channel migrant crisis

Claire Pearsall, a former UK Home Office Special Adviser, has slammed French President Emmanuel Macron for excluding Home Secretary Priti Patel from European Union negotiations on the migration crisis. On Sunday, November 28, top European migration ministers met in the French port of Calais to discuss measures to keep a check on migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. The meeting was called after 27 people lost their lives while attempting to cross the Channel to Britain in an overcrowded inflatable boat on Wednesday, November 14. France, that convened the meeting, did not invite UK Home Secretary Priti Patel as Wednesday's incident has sparked a new political crisis between the two countries. 

Pearsall described the French government's move to not invite the UK as "throwing toys out of the pram on a very large scale." Referring to the subject of Channel crossings, Pearsall said, "There is a problem, and it is larger than the recent Franco-English dispute. We must contribute to the solution. You need to look at a European problem, and while we are no longer members of the European Union, we are still part of Europe," reported news agency Sputnik citing Britain's LBC radio station. Her comments came after several UK government officials reportedly chastised the home secretary for "taking no action for two years" to stop migrant crossings over the English Channel.

It is pertinent to mention that ministers from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France met in Calais city. In addition, officials from the European Commission and EU border agency Frontex and police agency Europol were also in attendance. According to the report, Patel was excluded from the Calais meeting after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson wrote an open letter to President Macron on November 26. In the letter, PM Johnson had proposed a bilateral readmission deal, which would allow illegal migrants to be repatriated to France if they crossed the Channel. 

English Channel crossings increased substantially this year

This year, as a result of the COVID pandemic, travel restrictions and Brexit, the number of people attempting to cross the Channel in small boats has substantially increased. After a record 1,185 migrants crossed the English Channel on November 11, Prime Minister Boris Johnson had asked France to 'close off' the flow of migrants crossing into their country in order to prevent the migrants from sailing to the United Kingdom. The UK Prime Minister had also slammed French President Emmanuel Macron's government for not policing their beaches to prevent migrants from sailing to Britain in boats.

Image: Twitter/@communeamos, PTI, AP