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Monday, August 29, 2016

Home Secretary Rejects Calls To Scrap Calais Border Deal

The Home Secretary will bluntly reject calls to scrap the border deal between Britain and France when she meets her French counterpart in Paris later.
Amber Rudd is meeting interior minister Bernard Cazeneuve for scheduled talks on co-operation on counter-terrorism and security following the spate of terror attacks in France.
But border security has been propelled to the top of the agenda following calls by senior French politicians, led by former president Nicolas Sarkozy, to move checks on migrants from Calais to the UK.
Mr Sarkozy, who hopes to make a comeback in the French presidential election next year, said the controversial "Jungle" migrant camp should be shut down and moved to Britain.
But Ms Rudd, who succeeded Theresa May in July, will tell the President that Britain will not agree to renegotiating the border agreement between the two countries.
A Home Office spokesperson told Sky News: "We remain committed to working together to protect our shared border in Calais and to maintain the juxtaposed controls. 
"The French government have repeatedly made it clear that removing the juxtaposed controls would not be in the interests of France. 
"The French President reiterated this again at a joint press conference with the Prime Minister on 21 July.
"We firmly believe in the established principle, enshrined in the Dublin Regulation, that those in need of protection should seek asylum in the first safe country they enter."
At their meeting in Paris back in July, Mrs May said she had won a pledge from the President on the existing deal despite the UK's vote to leave the EU.
President Francois Hollande agreed, and said the agreement was useful to both countries. 
"We consider it as our duty ... to apply it and also to improve it," he added.
Under the Treaty of Le Touquet, British immigration officials check passports in Calais and their French counterparts do the same in Dover.
A source close to Mrs Rudd told The Daily Telegraph that discussing an end to this agreement was a "complete non-starter". 
The problem for the British government is that if President Hollande loses the presidential election next year, the existing treaties and agreements could be in jeopardy.
Charlie Elphicke, Conservative MP for Dover, said: "Axing the treaty altogether would be a disaster for France and Britain. 
"It would simply force the ferries and Tunnel to become border guards - meaning higher ticket prices and longer queues."
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, added that the crisis in Calais was due to the failure of successive French presidents to deal with the issue of illegal migration - and branded Mr Sarkozy's proposal "irresponsible".
The former president's controversial call has also provoked a furious attack from Tim Farron, leader of the Liberal Democrats.
He claimed Mr Sarkozy was "trying to grub around the gutter for votes to win his presidential primary", adding: "It won't work and trying to mimic the nasty rhetoric of Marine Le Pen is not a recipe for success. He just looks like a hypocrite."

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