France hosted a meeting of European ministers on Sunday to discuss ways to stop migrants crossing the Channel in dinghies, but without Britain, which has been excluded following a row last week. In reaction, the British government announced Sunday that it would hold its own talks on the crisis with European ministers later this week.
Ministers from France, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium met in the northern French port of Calais on Sunday afternoon to discuss how to tackle people-smuggling gangs that provide boats to migrants seeking to cross the narrow waterway.
The talks were called following the shocking deaths of 27 people last Wednesday as they attempted to cross from France to England in a dinghy that began losing air while at sea in cold winter temperatures.
Speaking after the meeting with his German, Belgian and Dutch counterparts on Sunday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that France is ready for a serious discussion with Britain on issues relating to illegal migration, but will not be held hostage to London's domestic politics.
Darmanin said Britain had to assume responsibility by making itself less economically attractive for illegal migrants.
The European Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex, had agreed on Sunday to provide a plane from December 1 to monitor France's northern coastline, he added.
The main focus had been set to be talks between Darmanin and his British counterpart Priti Patel after both countries vowed in the immediate aftermath of the mass drownings to cooperate more together.
Working more closely would require Paris and London to overcome years of ill-will caused by Britain's departure from the European Union, as well as often frosty ties between their governments.
Within 48 hours of the accident, French President Emmanuel Macron had accused British Prime Minister Boris Johnson of being "not serious" in unusually personal criticism that pushed relations to fresh lows.
France was irked by Johnson's initial reaction, which was seen as deflecting blame onto France, and then by his decision to write a letter to Macron which he published in full on his Twitter account before the French leader had received it.
Patel's invitation to Sunday's talks was promptly withdrawn, with an aide to Darmanin calling Johnson's public letter "unacceptable".
Patel announces EU talks on Twitter
Meanwhile Britain's government on Sunday announced plans for its own talks on the Channel migration crisis with European ministers later this week.
"I will be holding urgent talks with my European counterparts this week to prevent further tragedies in the Channel," said Patel in tweet.
There was no immediate comment from Patel's interior ministry on the venue or timing of the talks.
But Patel used a commentary piece in the Sun on Sunday newspaper to spell out the need for joint action, and for tougher UK legislation, as she comes under pressure in right-wing media and from her own Conservative party to get a grip on the crisis.
"There is still so much more we can do and I am sorry not to be at a meeting with European ministerial counterparts today to discuss this pressing issue," she wrote in the tabloid.
"We need to be creative about finding new solutions that will have the maximum possible impact, which is why the prime minister and I stand ready to discuss proposals with our French counterparts at any time," Patel said.
"And I know from my discussions with my European partners in recent days and weeks that there is more that can be done. Together, we can break up the people-smuggling gangs and save lives – but we must act now."
Cross-border crime
Without the participation of Britain – the destination country for the thousands of migrants massed in northern France – there are limits to what can be achieved.
The invitation to France's other northern neighbours reflects concern about how people-smuggling gangs are able to use Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany as bases to organise their operations.
Many migrants are believed to travel to launch sites in northern France from Belgium, while inflatables and life jackets can be bought in other countries such as the Netherlands and Germany without raising suspicion.
One of the five men arrested in connection with the accident last Wednesday was driving a car with German registration, according to French officials.
"Let's not forget that the real problem on illegal migration flows is the EU has no border protections whatsoever," Patel said in the middle of November, referring to the EU's border-free Schengen zone.
While France and Britain agree on the need to tackle people-smugglers more effectively, they remain at odds over how to prevent people travelling to northern France to seek passage to the UK.
In his public letter to Macron, Johnson again pressed for British police and border agents to patrol alongside their French counterparts along the coast – something rejected in the past as infringing on French sovereignty.
More controversially, he also proposed sending back all migrants who land in England, which he claimed would save "thousands of lives by fundamentally breaking the business model of the criminal gangs".
The European Commission's vice president on Saturday bluntly told Britain it needed to sort out its own migrant problems after its decision to leave the EU following a 2016 referendum.
"I recall well the main slogan of the referendum campaign is 'we take back control'," Margaritis Schinas told reporters during a trip to Greece.
"Since the UK took back control it's up to them now to find the necessary measures to operationalise the control they took back."
France has suggested Britain should process asylum requests in northern France.
'No information on the smugglers'
Investigations into last week's accident continue, with French police giving no details officially about the circumstances or the identities of the victims.
A total of 17 men, seven women and three minors died, with migrants living along the coast telling AFP that the deceased were mostly Iraqis, Iranians and Afghans.
One of the victims has been identified as Maryam Nuri Hama Amin, a woman in her twenties from Soran, a town in Iraq's autonomous region of Kurdistan.
She was travelling to England to join her fiancee and in search of "a better life," her father Nuri Hama Amin told AFP in an interview at her family home.
"We have no information on the smugglers," he added. "Their promises turned out to be lies."
(FRANCE 24 with AFP)
