Why the French Migration Camps Will Not Work

Two weeks ago the Government made a statement regarding the agreement between the UK and France on the illegal crossings of the Channel. The agreement was spurred by multiple people crossing the Channel in rubber boats hoping to reach the UK and claim asylum here. This heinous practice is something often done by human traffickers, who exploit and profit from these people’s desire to enter the UK, and something every decent person should condemn.

In my opinion, the thought behind the agreement is sound,, as it tries to stop human trafficking and it wants to save peoples lives. However, upon closer examination, the agreement is full of holes and ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’. For one, the agreement states that every asylum seeker who crosses or tries to cross the Channel will be sent back to France to await their application there; this a mere few days after the Home Secretary was fuming at the Opposition for suggesting that they would send these people back to France.

The Home Secretary said in a response to the Liberal Democrats response to the agreement, “Of course the government will be safely conveying those in distress in the sea back to the United Kingdom, what on earth else would they be doing? Do the Liberal Democrats have so little faith in international law and basic morality?” It turns out the Liberal Democrats were right.

But the main problem in this approach is two-folded, First of all, it doesn’t address the complex problem of the immigration; it just puts a bandage over a gaping wound. Secondly, this agreement completely relies on France to take in all of the asylum seekers that are trying to reach the UK, without any incentives for France.

There are many causes for the huge increase of migration to Europe, and especially North and Western Europe, such as climate change, wars in the Middle East, less economic opportunities, and oppression. This agreement does nothing to tackle any of these issues in the slightest. Without actual solutions to some of these issues, people will keep on coming to Europe, regardless of this agreement.

The European Union saw an answer to this issue and worked to invest in the regions, creating centres where these people can live, and working towards diffusing tensions in these regions. As seen with the agreement made with Turkey, while admittedly not always the most trustworthy partner, but considered an ally in the region; this agreement is based on a mutual benefit, and the EU, mainly Greece and Italy, get fewer asylum seekers, while Turkey receives funding from the EU and their citizens get access to the Schengen passport-free zone. Both sides benefit from this deal, which increases the motivation and incentive for both sides to stay true to their part of the agreement.

When we examine the UK-France version of this deal, it is clear that it is very one-sided. The UK sends every asylum seeker to France and France has to deal with them. The Prime Minister confirmed this, saying: “That would be France's responsibility,’ when asked about giving aid to France to pay for accommodation or services to these asylum seekers that we turn away.

This deal is already starting to prove unstable, as merely days after the agreement was made protests against it erupted across France. The so steady part of the agreement, which according to the Home Secretary, was readily agreed to by the French, doesn’t seem so steady anymore, thus opening up the possibility of causing more problems for the United Kingdom, where asylum seekers will keep on coming if the French start to ignore parts of the agreement.

So there’s an agreement between the EU and Turkey about the number of immigrants going from the Middle East to Europe, that has benefits for both sides and then there’s a shaky agreement that has positive benefits for one side and negative for the other. In biology, there’s a term for the latter version, parasitism, a form of symbiosis that eventually causes one of the sides to die.

Over the last two weeks, more and more people have emerged who share this view, and question the agreement. The voices of the Liberal Democrats and Labour party have been joined from within the Conservative Party itself. Their former leader, /u/InfernoPlato, former Prime Minister, former Foreign Secretary and highly regarded member from the Conservatives, also opposes the agreement. He submitted a motion, urging the Government to renegotiate an agreement and to fight the cause of the issue, taking in a number of asylum seekers from the EU and to come to an agreement with the EU to tackle human trafficking. He admitted that this motion, which was surprisingly a private member’s motion, didn’t receive any objections publicly or privately before the motion went to a vote. One must wonder at the tension this likely created between the Conservative leadership and their former leader.

The former Prime Minister shared the view that this agreement doesn’t seem sustainable on the French part, stating, “How long France will wish to remain a party is debatable. Take for example if the UK deliberately slows down applications - you could have hundreds in Calais waiting, with French citizens increasingly angry at the UK.” The former Prime Minister is not wrong, as both countries could potentially use their position and thus create a difficult balancing act for both parties involved.

The entire agreement does not inspire confidence, and the supposed answers from the Government do little more than raising more concerns. What of the seemingly contradictory choices on where these people are going to have to stay?, How long can an agreement that benefits one but not the other truly last, especially with protests all across France no doubt having an impact? The Government should take these matters into account and renegotiate a better deal with France and the EU. We should work to ensure that people’s lives are improved so the causes that drive them to leave their countries and to try and settle in Europe are tackled. We should take people in who arrive in Greece and Italy to do our part, all to save lives.