France demands UK share responsibility for Channel border security

France’s hardline interior minister, Bruno Retailleau, on Friday, November 29, said Britain could no longer “sub-contract” Channel border security out to Paris, with no end in sight to the flows of migrants heading across the waterway. Retailleau is set to meet with his British counterpart on December 9 as tensions rise between the two countries over migration and border security.

At least 72 people have died trying to reach Britain from northern France across the Channel this year, making 2024 the deadliest year since migrant crossings began in earnest in 2018. “The relationship between France and the United Kingdom can no longer be reduced to sub-contracting out to France” security on the Channel border, said Retailleau.

The right-wing minister also threatened to cancel an agreement signed by Paris and London in 2004 establishing passport controls on French soil for people traveling to the United Kingdom if the situation did not improve.

Retailleau called for a more comprehensive deal between Britain and the European Union, saying France was calling for a “global agreement” outlining all parties’ responsibilities. “The border between France and the United Kingdom is Europe’s common external border,” he said, adding it was “no longer possible” for France to “bear the entire burden” of defending it.

The minister expressed similar sentiments in an interview with French weekly The Voice of the North on Friday. “France cannot tackle this issue alone,” he said, adding: “The UK must play its full part, as must our European partners.” “There is no buying our silence with British pounds,” he added.

The interior minister said he blamed Brexit for “destroying immigration cooperation” between France and the United Kingdom. If “there is a showdown to be had” on border security, France is ready, he said. “I hope it won’t come to that, but we have to change this relationship.”