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France-U.K. Acrimony Over Channel Crossings Deepens - The New York Times
Nov 26, 2021 1 min, 31 secs
The French responded angrily to Boris Johnson’s suggestion that France take back migrants who reach Britain, and rescinded an invitation for a top British official to discuss the crisis.

PARIS — French officials lashed out at Britain on Friday over a letter from Prime Minister Boris Johnson advising France to take back migrants who reach British shores, escalating a diplomatic spat just days after 27 people died trying to cross the English Channel.

Johnson wrote that France and Britain should “put in place a bilateral readmissions agreement to allow all illegal migrants who cross the Channel to be returned,” suggesting that if France took back migrants it would be a major step toward fixing the problem.

Johnson’s letter was not a serious effort.

So far this year, there have been 47,000 attempts to cross the Channel, and 7,800 migrants had been saved from shipwrecks, according to French officials.

Johnson wrote that “an agreement with France to take back migrants who cross the Channel through this dangerous route would have an immediate and significant impact.”.

Johnson noted that countries like Russia and Belarus already have readmission agreements with the European Union and that any bilateral agreement between France and Britain would be temporary, pending a broader deal between the E.U.

But French officials reacted furiously on Friday morning to the suggestion that France should take back migrants, calling the idea a nonstarter and accusing Mr.

Attal added that the suggestion France should take back migrants who reach British shores “is obviously not what we need to fix the problem.” Instead, he said, Britain should send its own immigration officials to France, where they would examine the claims of asylum seekers trying to reach British shores

Johnson’s letter, telling the BBC that “friends and neighbors” had to work together and that he hoped France would reconsider disinviting Ms

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