“France must not be hypocritical and hide behind the smugglers”, declared on franceinfo Yann Manzi, co-founder of the association of aid to migrants Utopia 56, while the Minister of the Interior Gérald Darmanin receives Sunday November 28 in Calais (Pas-de-Calais) several European counterparts for discuss the issue of migrants, four days after the shipwreck of 27 people in the Channel. “If there were safe migration routes, there would be no smuggler”, affirmed Yann Manzi whereas this meeting, which is held without the English, must precisely tackle the problem of the networks of smugglers. According to him, they are rather “our regulations which create human trafficking.”
franceinfo: The watchword of this meeting is to fight against smuggling networks, is this the priority subject?
Yann Manzi : Of course, we have to act on the smuggling networks, but above all we have to imagine a welcome in this Europe which does not want these exiles. And review the regulations that prevent these exiles from seeking asylum in the country where they want. The reception which is given in France pushes more and more people towards the English border. Let us not forget that, at the time of the Calais jungle, when these 10,000 people were offered asylum, 7,000 people got on the buses. Without a smuggler, there would be less tragedy in the English Channel, but if there were safe roads, there would be no smuggler. It is of course also our policies that create all of this. Let us ensure that these populations can have safe roads and we will stop this human trafficking. Our regulations create human trafficking so we have to fight against the networks of smugglers but first, let’s change the regulations, and make sure that these populations, who represent only 0.01% of the European population, can ask for the asylum and that they are truly welcomed in our territories.
You are therefore asking for a distribution of migrants between European countries and an opening of migratory routes to Great Britain.
That is what we are asking for, and also the possibility of having asylum. We can imagine that most of these exiles who are on the territory of Calais and in France are people fleeing war and poverty. So pushing them and entangling them in administrative regulations that last for years, that’s what creates the desire to go to England. We denounce what we call the Fouquet’s agreements (note: the Touquet agreement of 2003), because it is a shame. Let’s do family reunification, give all these minors who want to join their families the opportunity to go to England. France must not be hypocritical and hide behind the smugglers. France creates this violence. We are currently studying France’s responsibility for not providing assistance to anyone in danger, so that those responsible are brought to justice. Because all of this could have been avoided.
Is it a problem that the British are not present at the European meeting, are they not also part of the solution?
For years with the rise of nationalism in this England and in this Europe, the solution has not come from the English. It’s always more violence, more regulations that mean that these people cannot create a future. So that the English are not around the table, it’s not surprising given what they are offering. What we are cragnant is that Frontex, which is also in the sights of an international commission for crimes against humanity, is still in a kind of repression and over-securing of a Europe which is becoming a fortress. This is not the road you have to take, you have to be able to imagine that there is another road to take and it is the road of humanity. So let’s be human and take this part of human misery. Let’s not forget that it’s often people who come from our former colonies, so let’s take our share of the responsibility.
There seems to be a form of habit now in the face of these tragedies. Do you sometimes feel that you are acting indifferently?
By dint of repeating that we are invaded and that the great replacement is underway, this idea is essential in the minds. It is simply to vomit. Let us not forget that behind all these so-called migratory flows, there are women, babies, children who only dream of being able to imagine a future. It is also this migration that created the world. It is important today to be able to open new avenues of negotiation with humanity and to reflect on what Europe should be like with its values, because today we are losing all our values. Let us return to something reasoned, let us distribute these exiles and offer them a future which is also ours.