Is the EU pushing its own mass migration problem in our direction? It sure looks that way

Gendarmerie patrol the beach at dawn on September 11, 2024 in Les Dunes d'Oye near Calais, France
Gendarmerie patrol the beach at dawn on September 11, 2024 in Les Dunes d'Oye near Calais, France

The tragic deaths of eight migrants off the French coast early this morning is a stark reminder to us all that there are still plenty of people prepared to risk their lives to try to get across to the UK. And it’s not just young men. Six more were taken to hospital, including a 10-month old child suffering from hypothermia.

The human trafficking gangs continue to thrive, taking money from people to load them into overloaded unseaworthy boats, many without life jackets. It’s the latest in a series of incidents in French territorial waters, which has now claimed the lives of 45 people so far this year.. Once again, we are asking how we can stop this evil trade and prevent further drownings in the English Channel – something that was unheard of five years ago, but is now increasingly common.

Sir Keir Starmer is off to Rome to meet with the Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, to see how the EU has managed to reduce irregular border crossings by 39 per cent in the first eight months of this year – including a massive 64 per cent on the Central Mediterranean route from North Africa into Italy. Whilst crossings and attempted crossings from France into the UK have remained stubbornly high – increasing over the same period.

What’s causing this massive decrease across the Central Mediterranean route? Have the Italians found the silver bullet that we’ve been searching for in the English Channel? Have they “smashed the gangs” operating on that route? Can we use the same tactics here?

I have long advocated that the only way to stop migrants dying on dangerous illegal maritime crossings is to rescue them and return them immediately whence they came. Assuming it’s safe to do so, of course. The duty to rescue persons in distress at sea is a fundamental rule of international law.

Mr Macron says that their migrant boats policy falls under EU competence, and we need to speak to them about it. The French coastguard cannot rescue migrants in the Channel or even in their territorial waters, he says, because the 
migrants don’t want to be rescued by the French.

Instead, their policy – presumably as endorsed by the EU – is to “escort” dangerous and unsafe vessels towards UK territorial waters. So that the UK Border Force can undertake the “rescue” and bring the migrants to Dover, rather than returning them to Calais. The French coastguard will only intervene when it is clear that the boat is about to sink, and people are in the water. Often with disastrous consequences.

So, if that’s the EU position, how does it work on the Mediterranean with migrants embarking from North Africa towards Italy?

The same deal applies, right? Surely the migrants don’t want to be “rescued” by the Libyan or the Tunisian coastguard once they are at sea (and taken back there) either?

Presumably, their maritime agencies adopt the same policy of “escorting” migrant boats towards EU territorial waters, so they can be rescued by the Italians and brought safely into Europe? They can then claim asylum or humanitarian protection under International law in Italy – or maybe to enter the borderless Schengen zone and head up to Calais, to get to the UK?

Well, no, actually.

We now learn that Tunisia was paid €105 million to boost its border security and to train up its coastguard to improve migrant detection in its waters, after Meloni and Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, flew to Tunis to strike the deal.

Italy has also supplied patrol vessels to enable the Tunisian coastguard to pick up migrants who set off in the Mediterranean and return them there, well before they enter international or Italian waters.

Meanwhile, Italy and the EU have for years been paying Libya to clamp down on migrant boats; it is not just a Meloni initiative.

In August 2017, Italy and the EU put in place a deal whereby they train the Libyan coastguard to intercept boats and return migrants to Libya.

It has proved effective; but is very controversial because of concerns about abuse and overcrowding in Libyan migrant holding facilities, which are practically prisons. Indeed, the UNHCR has been actively seeking to resettle asylum seekers from Libya to other “safe” countries including (yes, you’ve guessed it) Rwanda.

So, it’s going to be hard for the UK to use Italy’s success as a model for stopping the boats. Not least because it involves a raft of human rights violations and accords with pretty unpalatable countries – Libya is a failed state; and Tunisia is slipping back to autocracy.

Human rights groups accuse the Tunisians of rounding up migrants on the coast and dumping them in the desert near the border with Algeria. And the Libyan coast guard is accused of intercepting and pushing back migrant boats, even of using live rounds to intimidate them and NGO rescue ships in the region. But one thing is clear. As far as the EU is concerned, it’s OK to intercept migrant boats heading for the EU from North Africa and return them immediately whence they came, whether they like it or not.

But it’s not OK to intercept migrant boats heading to the UK from France and return them there. Even though the relative “safety” of returns to France pales into insignificance, when compared with returns to Tunisia and Libya.

If Starmer is to learn anything from Meloni, it will be that the EU policy on maritime interventions is at best inconsistent, and at worst disingenuous. The plain fact is that the EU should stop pretending that maritime interdiction and returns of UK-bound migrant boats to France is not an option.

Rather, they should enter into immediate negotiations with us on joint patrols in the Channel – and the immediate safe return of all the migrants to France, regardless of who rescues them and where.

Then – and only then – will we be able to break the smugglers’ business model and, ultimately, save lives.


Tony Smith served as Director General of the UK’s Border Force. He is the author of ‘Changing Borders: A Kingdom unlocked’