Clashes accelerate between Britain, France after Channel tragedy

 

Amid the ongoing talks between Britain and France, the issues regarding the English Channel were being addressed where both nations promised to keep public safety first but after the death of 27 people by drawing in the Channel, the two nations have started their blame game.

Leaders from both the countries are continuously engaging in a war of words and refusing to take responsibility for the accident that killed nearly 27 people who were making a sea journey on Wednesday. This has further accelerated the migrant crisis between the nations and has taken them back to point one.

This is one of the biggest losses at the Channel in recent years and just after the accident was reported, counterparts from both sides of Channel started blaming it on the other instead of owning the responsibility. All of them died in the freezing cold waters of the French coast when their inflatable vessel bound for Britain sank.

The people involved in the accident came from various regions including Iraq. As per a statement by the Prime Minister of the Kurdish Regional Government in Iraq, Iraqi Kurdish were also among the victims in the accident and the authorities are trying to get details about them.

French President Emmanuel Macron and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson also expressed their concerns for the tragedy. Macron stated that France will try everything in their power to not let the channel become a ‘graveyard’. Though the two leaders superficially agreed on stepping up efforts to prevent migrant crossings, some of the other leaders kept the blame game going.

On Wednesday, Macron was hinting that Britain has been politicising the matter since way long and even during the phone call with the British Prime Minister, the French President urged to not use the migrant crisis for domestic political gain. Next day too, the finger pointing battle continued between the leaders.

"People are safe in France, and the best way to keep people safe is to keep them on shore, not in the hands of people smugglers in the middle of the Channel," said the Member of Parliament for Dover, England, Natalie Elphike.