Lhe migration issue returns to the forefront in France after the declarations of the new Minister of the Interior, Bruno Retailleau, on the “migratory disorder” and the murder of a student for which the suspect is an illegal Moroccan. They intervene after the death of twelve people in the sinking of their boat in the English Channel on September 3 and eight others on September 15. Gérald Darmanin, then resigned Minister of the Interior, immediately called for a new migration treaty between the United Kingdom and the European Union (EU), with the aim in particular of renegotiating the funding that London grants to France for control of irregular immigration.
We do not yet know the attitude of the new Labor government on the British side, but it has already indicated its interest in the policy led by the far-right Italian leader, Giorgia Meloni, which consists precisely of delegating control of immigration to third countries, such as Albania.
It also remains to be seen how Bruno Retailleau will position himself, who has already repeatedly displayed his firmness on the subject, and whether he will continue the strategy which sees France, like Albania, being paid by its northern neighbor to contain migrants and refugees.
But, whatever the future strategies, the failure of migration policies – whether at the British, French or European level – is obvious. With Brexit, the United Kingdom wanted to regain control of its borders. But despite ever more restrictive policies, such as the aborted British agreement project with Rwanda, the new French immigration law of January 2024, or the European pact on migration and asylum in May 2024, crossings of the Channel have continued to grow, from 15,000 in 2021 to 45,000 in 2022, according to the British Home Office.
The vicious circle is always the same. In a classic logic of prohibition, these strategies for controlling migratory flows do not stop refugees and migrants, but push them into illegality. They also increase the price demanded by smugglers and intermediaries, while pushing would-be immigrants to take ever greater risks. In addition to the human and economic cost of this approach, it gives the feeling of uncontrolled immigration, which in turn justifies ever more restrictive policies.
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Source: Lemonde
