New diplomatic tensions between Paris and London over Channel tragedy
On Wednesday 24 November, 27 people headed for the UK lost their lives in the English Channel after their inflatable boat sank. Casualties included 17 men, 7 women and 3 children. The International Organization for Migration said it was the biggest single loss of life in the Channel since it began collecting data in 2014.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson tweeted a letter addressed to the French president Emmanuel Macron on Thursday 25 November. While Johnson said he was “confident” that Macron recognized the “urgency of the situation,” he also shared that he had “long been profoundly concerned that any morning we could wake to the news of a serious tragedy involving widespread loss of life in the Channel, including women and children.” Johnson then provided suggestions for additional steps to be taken: joint maritime patrols, increased surveillance, better intelligence targeting the people smugglers. Most strikingly, Johnson requested that France agree to take back all the “illegal migrants” who attempt to cross the English channel.
Johnson’s letter created fury among French government officials, who claim they had not read the letter before it was published online. French interior minister Gérald Darmanin canceled UK Home Secretary Priti Patel’s visit to Calais scheduled on Sunday. Darmanin said “we consider the British prime minister’s public letter unacceptable and counter to our discussions between partners.”
Macron also harshly responded to Johnson’s move while on a state visit to Italy: “You don’t communicate from a leader to another on these matters via tweets and letters that are made public. We are not whistleblowers.” Macron responded to Johnson’s suggestion of a systemic migrant returns agreement: France is a “transit” country for migrants in distress, “who do not want to remain in France and absolutely want to cross. The real question concerns serious cooperation to prevent these [migratory] movements… Because once they are here [on French soil], it is already too late.”
Peter Ricketts, ex-British ambassador to France, said that Johnson’s way of pointing the finger at France while glorifying his own deeds, and the publication of the letter, were first and foremost an address to the conservative MPs and to the British audience, following criticism that he had “lost his place” during a speech recently. According to British government officials, Johnson could have predicted that the publication of the letter would lead Macron to view him as engaging in “Trumpian grandstanding” in a move to pressure France to accept his requests.
Similarly, the announcement of the AUKUS alliance in September had probably left a scar, after France was sidelined in a submarine deal between Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. The new alliance made the previous Australian-French submarine contract obsolete, and instead reaffirmed the UK’s search for a “Global Britain.” Both the announcement of the AUKUS alliance and Johnson’s publication of the letter have most certainly left France feeling blindsided and humiliated on the international stage.
The migrant crisis can either be a major stumbling or building block for Anglo-French relations. Both countries’ domestic political context incentivised Macron and Johnson to act tough on these issues: Macron’s presidential re-election campaign will revolve around security issues against his likely opponent Marine Le Pen, and border control was a central promise for Brexit. Better communication and the handling of the crisis in private from now on could lead to better cooperation in the future.
However, many find the diplomatic spat between two highly developed European countries unedifying when lives are at risk. There is no easy solution, but a solution must be found, as crossings have not ceased since the boat sank on Wednesday.