EU to use plane to monitor migrants on Channel shores after 27 deaths

The EU’s border agency will dispatch a plane to monitor the shores of the English Channel for migrant activity after 27 people died when their overcrowded, inflatable boat sank en route to Britain, the deadliest migration accident on record on the treacherous crossing.

European migration officials agreed on the new deployment at an emergency meeting Sunday in the French port of Calais. They also pledged to work together more closely against migrant smuggling networks and the trade in inflatable boats that are being used in increasingly frequent journeys by people fleeing conflict or poverty in Afghanistan, Sudan or beyond.

U.K. officials were notably absent from the gathering at the Calais City Hall, after last week’s sinking prompted a new political crisis between Britain and France. The neighbours accuse each other of not doing enough to deter people from crossing the Channel, and countries across the European Union have long argued over how to manage migration.

“We have to prevent lives being lost. We have to prevent chaos coming to our external borders,” EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson told reporters after the meeting.

Starting Dec. 1, a plane operated by EU border agency Frontex will help France, Belgium and the Netherlands monitor their shores to better identify smuggling networks, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said.

German, Dutch and Belgian ministers also took part in the meeting, and participants stressed the need to co-operate with the U.K. Such co-operation has been complicated by Britain’s departure from the EU this year.

British Home Secretary Priti Patel said it was “unfortunate” that she was uninvited to the meeting, and reiterated Britain’s proposal for returning migrants to France. French officials firmly rejected the idea when it was initially proposed.

France is carrying out an organized crime investigation into the sinking.

Countries across the European Union have long argued over how to manage migration