Allocution de M. Eric BESSON lors de l’inauguration du centre conjoint de renseignement opérationnel de Folkestone, mardi 27 octobre 2009
Allocution de M. Eric BESSON
Ministre de l’immigration, de l’intégration,de l’identité nationale et du développement solidaire
Inauguration du centre conjointde renseignement opérationnel de Folkestone
Mardi 27 octobre 2009
Seul le prononcé fait foi
Mister Minister,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
First of all, Phil, I would like to thank you for your warm welcome to Folkestone today.
Since the Franco-British Summit held in Evian on July, we have been working hand in hand to tackle the major challenge of the illegal immigration at our common border.
This challenge is neither French nor British : it’s our common issue.
Let’s go straight to the point : the irregular migrants on the French coasts of the Channel and the North Sea don’t cross over continents to settle in France. They have a unique wish : they want to reach the United Kingdom.
In Evian, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister Gordon Brown solemnly affirmed our joint responsibility.
They have committed to make our common border impervious to all kind of trafficking. They have sent a clear message to the international smuggling networks : time of impunity is over.
President Sarkozy and Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave us, Phil and myself, a clear road map to implement at short and medium term.
I came to Folkestone to review our common progress.
First of all, France and the United Kingdom are taking measures to strengthen the common border.
Today, we have inaugurated the joint intelligence unit.
With the participation in the JIU of all the British and French competent services, we have now an enhanced ability to share intelligence and to design combined police operations against human traffickers.
The JIU is now fully operational.
By December, a French-British coordination center will run in the port of Calais.
The joint coordination center will represent a major step to increase the efficiency of our controls in the most critical spot of our common border.
The joint coordination center will facilitate the collect and the sharing of operational information between the UK Border Agency, the French Border Police and the French Customs Service.
The joint coordination center will be the first step of a comprehensive plan to reorganize our joint Customs and Police controls in the Port of Calais.
A French-British steering committee is working to design a pilot project to implement better articulation between the migration and the customs controls. This will include new investments in technology to combat fraud and the illegal movements of goods and people, and to discourage crime networks.
This new organization is due to be operational within the first months of 2010.
In addition, France and the United Kingdom have committed to join efforts to remove illegal migrants transiting by France to reach the United Kingdom.
On September the twenty-second, I decided to put an end to the clandestine settlement called “the jungle” at the port of Calais.
With the “jungle”, we have dismantled the major human traffickers’ logistic site on the French Coast.
I’m committed to repeat the operation wherever smugglers will try to recreate a “jungle”. A lot of illegal camps have been dismantled in addition to the “jungle” of Calais.
I will keep act on the same track because I want sustainable results against international traffickers. There is and there will be no way in France for the mafias that draw profits from the migrants.
I want to make it clear : we target the smugglers, we target the mafias, not the migrants. All the settlers of the “jungle” were offered housing. All the unaccompanied minors are now under the protection of the French judiciary in specialized structures.
When it comes to forced returns, yes we have removed three illegal migrants to Kabul in addition to twenty-four from the United Kingdom. Yes there will be other removal operations if all the conditions are met, notably in term of security, as I have already mentioned in detail to the press in France. Yes we will schedule new joint flights with the United Kingdom if we meet all these conditions.
Because when you have been refused asylum by an independent body, when you have exhausted all the judicial appeals, even at the European level, and when you have refused a voluntary return, there is no other option than implementing the law.
Otherwise you pave the way for traffickers. As far as France is concerned, this is of course a non-starter.
Dear Phil,
In conclusion, before answering questions of the press, I would like to pay tribute to our teams, to our Police officers. They have accomplished such a great job since the Evian Summit.
We will continue hand in hand with you. Not to please the United Kingdom. But because France cannot tolerate its territory to become a platform for traffickers.