the European Union at the forefront of the Calais meeting
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Since the letter to Emmanuel Macron made public by Boris Johnson, the British, ” not serious », Were withdrawn by France from the proposed coordination meeting in Calais after the death of migrants who had tried to cross the Channel. The British Home Secretary will not be there, but his French counterpart is waiting at 3 p.m. at the town hall for his Belgian, Dutch and German partners, as well as the European Commissioner for Home Affairs.
European Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson will be accompanied by the directors of Europol and Frontex, an invitation extended to them after the Swedish woman’s interview with Gérard Darmanin on Thursday. The Minister of the Interior and the Commissioner spoke on this occasion of three areas of particular interest to the European Union.
Operational decisions will be taken by the four countries, explains our correspondent in Brussels,Pierre Benazet. But the EU should offer its support for the fight against the networks and channels of smugglers, for the increase of police cooperation and the exchange of information. Finally, the European Union should also help protect and monitor what has now become an external border.
Hence the presence of the Director of Frontex, since the EU’s external borders are the field of action of the European Coast Guard and Border Guard.
For his part, the European Commissioner responsible for managing migration issues, Margaritis Schinas, believes that it is high time that the United Kingdom finally took its responsibilities. It is up to him to solve his problems relating to the influx of migrants and to organize himself the control of his borders.
Difficult situation for migrants on the ground
As winter approaches, many exiles still want to cross the Channel, even though the seas are rough. They are ready to take all the risks, in particular to escape very degraded living conditions, reports our special correspondent in Calais, Juliette Gheerbrant. This Friday, November 26, there were seven operations to evacuate and confiscate property in Calais.
Laurine Chabal, is part of the group of human rights observers HRO. The association documented the operations: ” Daily, the police will go to the scene to take as many tents, duvets and blankets as possible. The goal of the state is that people do not stay where they live […] Sometimes people are not allowed to collect their belongings. They are escorted out of the perimeter and so there the state-mandated cleaners will take the tents and everything that follows. And so the tents can be full and full of personal belongings. “
Every day they try to do a little bit of what the state should do: bring water to people who are in camps, […] provide first aid to survivors. They are volunteers who bring to the hospital, they are volunteers who do everything.
Louise Druelle: In Calais, “It’s volunteers who do everything”
According to the government, the migrants are sheltered. Laurine Chabal denies: “ Most evictions in Calais are done without concomitant shelters so people are doomed to wander. Sometimes migrants are received in examination and examination centers, where they can apply for asylum. But, whether it’s because they want to join relatives in the UK or fear being sent back to another EU country, most are returning to the coast.
► To read again: The British are no longer invited to the crisis meeting on migrants
