'We call it human trafficking': criticism rains down on the Franco-British migrant agreement

The "one-for-one" pilot project is the subject of criticism and reservations. During his official visit to the United Kingdom, Emmanuel Macron reached an agreement with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, July 10, regarding migrants crossing the Channel aboard "small boats."

These precarious boats have allowed 21,000 migrants to land in England from the beaches of Nord-Pas-de-Calais but have caused numerous shipwrecks with at least ten deaths since the beginning of the year .

This agreement is innovative in that it provides that small boats, once they arrive in England, will be returned to France . In return, the United Kingdom agrees to accept a migrant who is in France, provided that they can prove links with the country, such as the presence of relatives.

Migrants who attempt to cross the Channel illegally for the first time will be permanently banned from the British asylum system. This measure is aimed at "undermining the business model of people smugglers," the British government statement quoted.

For Emmanuel Macron, this project "will have a significant deterrent effect on the smuggling model and on crossings," while Keir Starmer welcomed a "revolutionary" agreement. This announcement immediately prompted a reaction from local elected officials, who were the first to be affected by the presence of many would-be migrants in makeshift shelters.

Xavier Bertrand, president of the Hauts-de-France region, announced on BFMTV this Friday, July 11, that he and the coastal mayors would send a letter to Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau to denounce the agreement. "As it stands today, this agreement is bad for France. As usual, it's a good agreement for the English," he declared.

"They will have chosen immigration and we will have forced immigration, which is not the case today."

The former minister believes that the United Kingdom is not currently sufficiently involved in migration control due to the Le Touquet agreements signed in 2003, which entrust border surveillance to France in exchange for financial compensation.

"Take what we do with the Italians, sometimes the Spanish, there are results, except that with the English, it is not possible, they let us do everything," he laments.

Last June, with the first echoes of these negotiations for a Franco-British pact, Spain, Greece, Italy, Malta and Cyprus expressed their "concern", fearing that France would then return the migrants to the first EU country in which they arrived.

"What this agreement does is reintroduce England into the functioning of the European Union, with the Dublin agreements, which they left with Brexit," noted Didier Leschi, president of the French Office for Immigration and Integration, on the BFMTV set.

The European Commission said on Friday that it would "study" the terms of the agreement reached between France and the United Kingdom on a migrant exchange project.

"The growing number of migrants crossing the Channel illegally is alarming and requires a robust response," said Markus Lammert, spokesperson for the European executive.

"Regarding the specific cooperation envisaged between France and the United Kingdom, the Commission will assess the concrete modalities of this agreement," he added.

For many associations working with migrants in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, this agreement is reprehensible. "France and the United Kingdom have announced an agreement to 'exchange migrants.' We call this human trafficking," denounced Utopia 56, for example.

Interviewed by BFMTV, Flore Judet, coordinator of the Auberge des Migrants in Calais, denounced "dehumanization."

"We're trading human beings like we'd trade Pokémon cards. We're talking about people who have already traveled thousands of miles and see the UK as their last hope. There won't be any deterrent effect."

Mickaël Neuman, director of studies at the Médecins Sans Frontières think tank, believes these new measures are futile and dangerous. He fears the evolution of French police doctrine requested by the United Kingdom, which would allow law enforcement to intervene when boats are already in the water.

"Historically, interceptions were carried out on land, and France was reluctant to intervene at sea. Intervening at sea on overcrowded boats will lead to an increase in drownings," he said to BFMTV.com.

Even across the Channel, the announcement of this project has also raised criticism, particularly from the opposition to the government. Kemi Bedenich, leader of the Conservative Party, already believes that such an agreement is ineffective. "Will this agreement make a difference? Probably not. 17 entries for one deportation is not a deterrent," she reacted on X.

"It's just a gimmick. The numbers are extremely limited. It's been reported that there will only be 50 returns per week. This is something the Prime Minister didn't deny when asked, but that's only 6% of crossings," Conservative MP Chris Philp lamented to the BBC.

Nigel Farage , leader of the far-right Reform UK party, called the sequence "a humiliation." "We acted like a member of the European Union and bowed to an arrogant French president," he wrote on the same platform.