PARIS (Dispatches) – French President Emmanuel Macron has said Britain bears the responsibility for all migrant deaths in the Channel and accused Westminster of ‘hypocrisy’.
Speaking to the regional French newspaper La Voix du Nord, President Macron said he will “step up” the pressure on Boris Johnson to establish a legal route to Britain for asylum seekers - something Westminster has so far declined to do.
“The responsibility for those who die at sea does not fall upon France but upon this British refusal,” Macron said.
Responding to the President’s comments on Wednesday, UK home secretary Priti Patel said they were “absolutely wrong”.
Ms Patel told MPs on the Commons Home Affairs Committee: “Macron’s comments are wrong. They’re absolutely wrong. So, let me be very, very clear about that.”
President Macron told the French newspaper that the British economy is reliant on low-paid, illegal immigration labor, adding: “The British continue to have a system from the 1980s, which manages economic immigration through hypocrisy. There is no legal immigration route.”
He added: “The British must articulate their needs in terms of the economy and reopen a path to legal asylum requests. We are going to step up the pressure.”
Priti Patel highlighted that “very good work” was being done by the UK ambassador in Paris and praised the “co-operation that we have to have with France to combat the dangerous and unnecessary crossings, dealing with illegal migration, but also working with like-minded partners across Europe.”
The numbers of migrants crossing the Channel is rising and six times as many people made the perilous journey by boat this January, compared to the same month last year. UK authorities intercepted or rescued 1,341 people compared to 223 the year before.
France has previously proposed setting up joint processing centres on French soil, where applications for asylum in Britain could be examined by British immigration officers.

UK Minister Hits Back
at Macron

Britain’s interior minister hit back Wednesday at Macron after he said London must take responsibility for the deaths of migrants attempting to cross the Channel from northern France.
“Macron’s comments are wrong -- they’re absolutely wrong,” Priti Patel told a panel of lawmakers in parliament.
The Conservative minister said more than 51,000 migrants tried to cross the Channel last year -- a record -- with over 28,000 reaching British waters or shores.
However, some journeys ended in tragedy -- in November, 27 migrants drowned off France during an attempted crossing in a boat likened by French officials to a children’s inflatable pool.