Millions from London to Paris

Great Britain will pay France more than half a billion euros over the next three years in a fight against unwanted migration across the English Channel. The money will be used to fund a new detention center in northern France, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced Friday at a meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris. This is more than twice the amount paid annually from London to Paris.

A new command center will also be built at a cost of €541 million, with 500 additional border guards and the use of modern drones and surveillance technology.

The Prime Minister emphasized that this is a common challenge. Sunak recently announced a new asylum law. It provides for nearly all immigrants who enter the country without official permission to be detained in shelters such as former military bases or student dormitories.

After that they should be deported to Rwanda or other countries. The right to seek asylum should be taken away from them. The British government has admitted that the plan violates the limits of international law.

As French President Emmanuel Macron has said, France cannot make a deal with Britain alone to take back refugees, it is an EU issue. After Brexit, Great Britain will no longer be able to use the Dublin regulations that apply in the EU, according to which migrants can be sent back to another EU country if they have already been stopped on their flight.

Channeling migration should be tackled jointly by all European countries. This includes transit countries, Macron said, and those operated by smugglers who have arranged for migrants to cross the English Channel in rubber boats.