AFP :
France and Britain plan to announce Thursday a new treaty on how to handle the thousands of migrants hoping to cross the English Channel from the northern French coast, as the two countries look to bolster relations as Brexit looms. The new deal will “amend” the 2003 Le Touquet accord and which effectively put Britain’s border on French soil at Calais, which has since become a sore point in relations between the two countries.
President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May will unveil the “new treaty” as the French leader makes his first official visit to London on Thursday for a summit meeting.
The details are “still being finalised”, a source in the French presidency said Wednesday, but the deal will include measures on how to manage unaccompanied minors, asylum requests and family regroupings.
“Specific engagements” will also be announced to respond to asylum and other requests “within a few days”, the source said,
asking not to be named. Britain will also commit to a “major” financial contribution as part of a “reinforcement of French-British police cooperation on border management”, it said. “Significant results have already been seen, including fewer asylum requests in Great Britain and an improvement in the situation on the ground on the French side,” it added. The original Le Touquet text, which came into force in February 2004, implemented joint controls at coastal ports in both countries as Britain, which is not part of Europe’s Schengen visa-free zone, looked to bolster efforts to keep migrants out.
France and Britain plan to announce Thursday a new treaty on how to handle the thousands of migrants hoping to cross the English Channel from the northern French coast, as the two countries look to bolster relations as Brexit looms. The new deal will “amend” the 2003 Le Touquet accord and which effectively put Britain’s border on French soil at Calais, which has since become a sore point in relations between the two countries.
President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Theresa May will unveil the “new treaty” as the French leader makes his first official visit to London on Thursday for a summit meeting.
The details are “still being finalised”, a source in the French presidency said Wednesday, but the deal will include measures on how to manage unaccompanied minors, asylum requests and family regroupings.
“Specific engagements” will also be announced to respond to asylum and other requests “within a few days”, the source said,
asking not to be named. Britain will also commit to a “major” financial contribution as part of a “reinforcement of French-British police cooperation on border management”, it said. “Significant results have already been seen, including fewer asylum requests in Great Britain and an improvement in the situation on the ground on the French side,” it added. The original Le Touquet text, which came into force in February 2004, implemented joint controls at coastal ports in both countries as Britain, which is not part of Europe’s Schengen visa-free zone, looked to bolster efforts to keep migrants out.
