(AFP) French Prime Minister Jean Castex told his British counterpart Boris Johnson that the UK held “a large part of the solution” to the Channel migrant crisis and rejected the idea of joint border patrols, according to [a] letter seen by AFP on Thursday.
Castex wrote to Johnson on late Wednesday setting out France’s suggestions to stop migrants crossing the Channel in small boats following a tragedy last week in which at least 27 people drowned.
He formally rejected an idea proposed by Johnson of British security forces patrolling on the French coast to prevent dinghies taking to the water.
“We cannot accept … that British police or soldiers patrol on our coasts. It’s a question of sovereignty and I know your government’s sensitivity towards respecting the sovereignty of others,” Castex wrote.
