The UK is "too attractive" for migrants, the French Interior Minister has said, after 27 migrants drowned in the Channel last night.
Gerald Darmanin attacked the UK's welfare system and labour market regulations in a radio interview.
He asserted that there were 6000 deportations every year in the UK. France deport four times that many.
He went on: "Everyone knows that there are more than a million illegal immigrants in the UK and that English employers use this workforce."
Darmanin seemed to endorse Boris Johnson’s idea that British authorities should be permitted to patrol French beaches to ensure migrants don't enter into the Channel with a view to crossing.
He firmly stated: “Britain and France must work together. We must stop being the only ones fighting the smugglers. We are telling our Belgian, German and English friends that they must help us.”
Darmanin claimed a fifth alleged trafficker faced manslaughter charges in connection with the capsized vessel.
This comes as France confronts the worst migrant tragedy in its history.
French newspaper Le Monde reported: “It is an unprecedented tragedy that unfolded off Calais’ in French waters”.
