France lashes out at Britain’s latest proposal on migrants

Protestors demonstrate against the British Government’s policy on immigration and border controls, outside the Home Office in London on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

France reacted with fury on Friday to Britain's latest proposals for dealing with the deadly flow of migrants between their shores as the war of words between the two countries over the dangerous crossings across the English Channel ramped up further.

In a public letter to French President Emmanuel Macron, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson laid out a series of proposals on how the two countries can deal with the crisis, following the sinking of a boat on Wednesday that saw 27 people die.

The letter, which was made public on social media, was deemed "unacceptable" by French government spokesman Gabriel Attal. As a result, he said Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel was no longer welcome at a European meeting on Sunday to discuss the problem.

"We are sick of double-speak," Attal said. Among his recommendations, Johnson asked that France take back all migrants who cross illegally from its shores to Britain. Attal dismissed the idea as "clearly not what we need to solve this problem."

He said the letter "doesn't correspond at all" with discussions that Johnson and Macron had Wednesday after the tragedy. Johnson also set out proposals for British border officials to begin patrols on the beaches of northern France as early as next week - something Paris has long resisted. He also recommended joint or reciprocal maritime patrols in each other's territorial waters and airborne surveillance by manned flights and drones.

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