Castaner fears "migratory movements" going through Spain

Haro on the Spanish border. Traveling to the Perthus border post in the Pyrenees-Orientales before an official trip to Madrid, Christophe Castaner, the Minister of the Interior pointed out "strong migratory movements on the Pyrenees". The opportunity to announce increased cooperation with Spain.

"There are strong migratory movements on the Pyrenees, a rise in power in the Pyrénées-Orientales, what is essential is to work collectively.There is a great cooperation between the Spanish and French services", said Chrisophe Castaner at the Franco-Spanish police and customs cooperation center (CCPD) of Perthus, before going to the Spanish capital to meet his counterpart.

The Interior Minister wants to "make this cooperation more effective", noting that "Spain has seen its entries increase by 150%". "The challenge for France is threefold: working with the countries of origin of migrants, working with transit countries including Morocco, and working on the European border that needs to be strengthened," he said. Announcing "reinforced staff", the minister said he was considering "the appointment of a coordinator on the Pyrenees".

48,000 admissions from Morocco

At the end of October, the Minister of the Interior had already mentioned in an interview JDD, the creation of a "security coordinator", who would be a senior official, to "better organize the controls and dialogue with the Spanish authorities," he said. "In Spain there were 48,000 irregular entries from Morocco" and "non-admissions to the French-Spanish border increased by almost 60% in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques compared to last year", had affirmed Christophe Castaner in this long interview in which he detailed his roadmap.

"The experts of the Paf have noted in recent months a tipping of migration flows from Italy to Spain," said Agence France-Presse the prosecutor of Perpignan, Jean-Jacques Fagni, stating that the phenomenon had started "before the arrival of the new Italian government and Matteo Salvini". According to this magistrate, there is thus "a strong development of clandestine immigration networks in the Pyrénées-Orientales".

In early October, two Pakistanis who were driving 24 compatriots between Italy and Spain "crammed into a small van Iveco", were sentenced to three years in prison in immediate appearance, says the prosecutor. Taxis with "drivers of Vietnamese origin", trains, TGV or small lines, coaches, "both Euroline and small Maghreb companies", the smugglers resort to all means of transport, says Jean- Jacques Fagni. While most cases are only "purely policing activities with an immediate readmission of migrants" in Spain, illegal immigration files "weigh heavily on the activity of the TGI of Perpignan" since the beginning of the the year, says Jean-Jacques Fagni.