President Emmanuel Macron has said his controversial tightening of French policies on migrants was in line with a reference that Pope Francis recently made to the “prudence” needed to deal with the influx.
On a 16 January visit to Calais, a local Caritas official told Mr Macron that his policy of differentiating between economic migrants and refugees fleeing persecution was “inhumane”, and he should show more “prudence”. Mr Macron has vowed to expel people whose asylum claims have been rejected but who stay on illegally.
“Thank you for citing the words of the Pope in their context, because he did refer to the prudence a government should exercise,” the president responded.
He later told the Catholic daily La Croix that migration policy also had to consider the reaction of local communities to people arriving. “There are also those who, here in Calais, suffer from this situation. And they are often the lower classes, who have few financial means,” he said.
In his World Peace Day message on 1 January, Pope Francis advised governments to use prudence to welcome migrants, within the limits of the common good – a reference that the French bishops have also taken to mean striking a balance between fully open doors and tight restrictions.
The presence of migrants in Calais awaiting passage to Britain has angered local people, and the far-right National Front candidate, Marine Le Pen, won 57 per cent of the vote in Calais in the 2017 presidential election, which Mr Macron won.
Meanwhile, the lead bishop for Asylum and Migration in England and Wales, and the President of Justice and Peace in Scotland, have welcomed the Sandhurst Treaty, the first joint treaty on the Calais border in 15 years, which Britain’s Prime Minister, Theresa May, and Mr Macron signed last week. The treaty is designed to speed up the processing of migrants in Calais seeking to live in the UK. It comes into force on 1 February. It would see the processing time for adult migrants reduced from six months to one, and to 25 days for children.
Westminster auxiliary Bishop Paul McAleenan and the Bishop of Galloway, William Nolan, said that they welcomed the “positive aspects” of the treaty, but added: “The Government and the Civil Service must be held to account in implementing this decision, especially in applying the [regulations] which will allow children to be reunited with their families in the UK. This opportunity to bring greater humanity and compassion to the migration system must be grasped by Government.”
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