Didier Leschi, director of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (Ofii), said he was “horrified” Wednesday after the sinking of a migrant boat off Calais, which left at least 27 dead.
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“It is a terrible drama, I am horrified”, reacted on franceinfo Didier Leschi, director of the French Office for Immigration and Integration (Ofii), after the sinking of a migrant boat off Calais (Pas-de-Calais), Wednesday November 24 in the afternoon, who made “at least 27 dead” according to a report from the Ministry of the Interior.
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“This drama illustrates the fact that the State is right to say that it is necessary to prevent people from stationing in Calais and on the coast because that facilitates the morbid work of smugglers”, said Didier Leschi. The one who carried out a mission of mediator in Calais on this question of migrants believes that the main problem is the care of these people. “They must accept the accommodation solutions that are offered to them, which are certainly far from the sea, but which have the interest of removing them from this despicable traffic organized by the smugglers”, he pleaded. However, he lamented “that one in two proposals is refused”, he explained.
“There is no simple solution”, recalled the director of Ofii. “The first difficulty comes from the fact that there is an aspiration to go to England for a whole lot of reasons which favor the clandestinity”, he noted. In addition, the channels of smugglers, difficult to dismantle, “sometimes reconstitute”, he detailed. “There is something that is of the order of the permanent battle, but it should not be given up”, he said. The question of the distribution of the assumption of responsibility of this question by the countries of Europe is also at the heart of the discussions according to Didier Leschi: “There is a debate that is posed.”