UK’s Starmer hosts France’s Macron for migration talks during state visit

Britain has proposed a ‘one-in, one out’ arrangement for asylum seekers on English Channel crossings – a deal France has refused to sign.

French President Emmanuel Macron’s three-day state visit to the United Kingdom has moved from the genteel royal pomp and ceremony to the harder edges of the political realm as his hosts are expected to press for new measures to curb undocumented immigration in crunch talks.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is set to push Macron to do more to stop refugee and migrant crossings across the English Channel as the two leaders meet Wednesday at 10 Downing Street.

The number of refugees and migrants arriving on England’s southern coast via small boats from northern France is a major political issue for the Labour government, which has seen the far-right Reform party make significant political gains with a hardline anti-immigration platform.

The talks come on Macron’s second day of his visit to the UK, which began with a warm welcome from King Charles III and members of the royal family and a lavish banquet at Windsor Castle.

It’s the first state visit by a French president to the UK since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 and the first by a European Union head of state since Brexit was made official in 2020. Macron’s trip came at the invitation of King Charles III.

‘One in-one out’ deal not favoured by EU

Macron addressed the British parliament on Tuesday, promising to deliver on measures to cut the number of people crossing the English Channel, describing the issue as a “burden” to both countries. He also said that France and the UK had a “shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness”.

Britain hopes to strike a “one in, one out” deal to send small boat refugees and migrants back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link, the domestic Press Association news agency reported.

France has previously refused to sign such an agreement, saying the UK should negotiate an arrangement with all European Union countries.

“This deal is far from being finished because there is a lot of opposition from certain European nations, which are usually the port of entry for people seeking to come to Europe, places like Spain, Malta, Italy, Greece and Cyprus,” said Al Jazeera’s Milena Veselinovic, reporting from London.

“That is because under EU law, in theory, France could just move on the people they receive from Britain and onto those countries, the first port of entry countries, to claim asylum there. So Keir Starmer doesn’t only need to convince President Macron of this deal, but he also has quite significant stumbling blocks when it comes to convincing other European nations.”

After he took power a year ago, Starmer promised to “smash the gangs”, getting thousands of people onto the small boats – only to see numbers rise to record levels.

More than 21,000 people have crossed from northern France to southeast England in basic vessels this year, on a perilous journey.

The Macrons began the second day of their visit by paying their respects at the tomb of the late Queen Elizabeth II at Windsor’s St George’s Chapel.

Macron then discussed biodiversity issues with the king during a stroll in the castle grounds before he bade farewell to his host and headed to central London.

At Tuesday evening’s banquet, Charles used a speech to about 160 guests – including royals, Starmer and music icons Elton John and Mick Jagger – to warn that the two nations’ alliance was as crucial as ever amid a “multitude of complex threats”.

Macron had also said in his address to parliament that “Britain and France were too dependent on the US and China, and that they really need to take joint decisions on defence and security even though Britain has left the European Union, as geographically it is part of Europe,” said Veselinovic.

Charles concluded by toasting a new UK-France “entente… no longer just cordiale, but now amicale”, prompting Macron to laud “this entente amicale that unites our two fraternal peoples in an unwavering alliance”.

Macron is due to visit the British Museum to formally announce the loan of the famous Bayeux Tapestry depicting the 1066 Norman conquest of England, allowing the 11th-century masterpiece to return for the first time in more than 900 years. London, in exchange, will loan Paris Anglo-Saxon and Viking treasures.

Source:

Al Jazeera and news agencies