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| UK-French blame game over Calais camp must end, says Cazeneuve UK-French blame game over Calais camp must end, says Cazeneuve | |
| (about 2 months later) | |
| A damaging blame game between France and the UK over the Calais refugee crisis is preventing action to support vulnerable people, the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, has said. | A damaging blame game between France and the UK over the Calais refugee crisis is preventing action to support vulnerable people, the French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, has said. |
| There had been a catalogue of misunderstandings between the two countries about the mechanisms and political will to solve the crisis, he said, as well as accusations of selfishness and inhumanity. | There had been a catalogue of misunderstandings between the two countries about the mechanisms and political will to solve the crisis, he said, as well as accusations of selfishness and inhumanity. |
| “From the point of view of some in France, the Calais migrants’ misery is entirely down to the selfishness of the British government,” he wrote in an article for the Guardian. | “From the point of view of some in France, the Calais migrants’ misery is entirely down to the selfishness of the British government,” he wrote in an article for the Guardian. |
| Some French people felt the UK was using the Le Touquet agreement, which controls entry into the country from Europe, to shirk its responsibility, he said. | Some French people felt the UK was using the Le Touquet agreement, which controls entry into the country from Europe, to shirk its responsibility, he said. |
| “They accuse the UK of using these agreements in an unscrupulous way, as a means of refusing to take in refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East, including unaccompanied children with family connections in the UK,” he said. | “They accuse the UK of using these agreements in an unscrupulous way, as a means of refusing to take in refugees fleeing conflicts in the Middle East, including unaccompanied children with family connections in the UK,” he said. |
| The minister said it should be accepted that neither Britain nor France was the first safe country where migrants and refugees had landed, but both had to take responsibility. | The minister said it should be accepted that neither Britain nor France was the first safe country where migrants and refugees had landed, but both had to take responsibility. |
| “We are accused of being too slow to process asylum applications, and of being indifferent to the human stories behind each set of forms,” he said. “The reality, of course, is that neither government has chosen to leave people with the right to refugee status in the cold and the mud – women and children least of all.” | “We are accused of being too slow to process asylum applications, and of being indifferent to the human stories behind each set of forms,” he said. “The reality, of course, is that neither government has chosen to leave people with the right to refugee status in the cold and the mud – women and children least of all.” |
| Cazeneuve has said there is now greater political cooperation to solve the crisis, and that the transfer of 6,000 people from the camp to reception centres across France is why the government has begun dismantling the Calais camp. | Cazeneuve has said there is now greater political cooperation to solve the crisis, and that the transfer of 6,000 people from the camp to reception centres across France is why the government has begun dismantling the Calais camp. |
| Last week, the British home secretary, Amber Rudd, told MPs the French authorities had agreed to verify a Citizens UK list of 387 child refugees with a legal right to come to the UK. “Once we have that official list we will move quickly within days and remove very quickly those children,” she said. | Last week, the British home secretary, Amber Rudd, told MPs the French authorities had agreed to verify a Citizens UK list of 387 child refugees with a legal right to come to the UK. “Once we have that official list we will move quickly within days and remove very quickly those children,” she said. |
| More than 70 unaccompanied refugee children have arrived in the UK under the Dublin regulation, which gives refugees the right to join family members who are in the UK. Fourteen arrived from Calais on Monday as part of the Home Office’s attempt to relocate children before the camp is demolished. | More than 70 unaccompanied refugee children have arrived in the UK under the Dublin regulation, which gives refugees the right to join family members who are in the UK. Fourteen arrived from Calais on Monday as part of the Home Office’s attempt to relocate children before the camp is demolished. |
| However, Cazeneuve said, the dismantling of the Calais camp could only be the first step. “We must not just prevent migrants from living in precarious conditions on our soil, be it in the area around Calais or on the Kent coast,” he wrote. | However, Cazeneuve said, the dismantling of the Calais camp could only be the first step. “We must not just prevent migrants from living in precarious conditions on our soil, be it in the area around Calais or on the Kent coast,” he wrote. |
| “We must also act together to ensure that refugees aspiring to gain asylum in Europe are dealt with in conditions of solidarity and humanity, in a manner in keeping with the history and the values of our two countries.” | “We must also act together to ensure that refugees aspiring to gain asylum in Europe are dealt with in conditions of solidarity and humanity, in a manner in keeping with the history and the values of our two countries.” |