“We are going to investigate precisely to find out what happened because we are talking about human lives”, said Clément Beaune, Secretary of State for European Affairs, on Friday December 10 on franceinfo, concerning possible dysfunctions of the relief efforts between French and British, during the sinking on November 24 in which 27 migrants died. In testimonies, survivors let it be known that they had called French helpers who sent them back to British helpers and vice versa. “These testimonies are overwhelming”, admitted Clément Beaune. “I cannot find it normal that people’s lives are in danger and that they wait for hours for help”, he added.
“Our goal is obviously that the emergency services are as responsive as possible and that there is no misunderstanding or call forwarding problem to organize this assistance”, assured the Secretary of State for European Affairs. According to “his understanding”, however, an agreement allows the British to intervene in French waters and to coordinate the aid each in its waters. “Most of the time, these are rescues in French waters and our rescuers do it without hesitation, but in a certain number of borderline cases, there can be this kind of problem”, he explained, believing that it was necessary “strengthen cooperation with the British and clarify certain rules of intervention.”
Clément Beaune, however, provided support to the French rescuers. “I still want to say and pay tribute to our rescuers, every day they save lives, they risk their own lives to save others”, he added, noting “nearly 8,000” lives saved “since the beginning of the year”. “Each shipwreck, because there were precedents, it is one death too many”, lamented Clément Beaune.
Regarding Boris Johnson’s proposal to return all illegal migrants crossing the Channel to France, the Secretary of State for European Affairs said that “that would be an aberration”, “a violation of humanitarian rules, the law of the sea and international law”. Finally, on the proposal to set up joint police patrols on the French coast, Clément Beaune recalled that France “is a sovereign country” : “We will not accept that on police missions, sovereign missions, it is the British police who intervene on French territory.”
“We want to work with the British, but there cannot be two chains of command in our territory”, he continued, urging the British to “to get out of postures” and “to work seriously” with France. “We are having a difficult time with the British”, he admitted, considering however that despite “the firmness” which France is demonstrating, “the subject was serious enough” so that the “cooperation be our compass”.