French minister backs joint European deportation flights
(FOLKESTONE) - Forced returns of asylum seekers from Europe should be carried out under a joint European banner, France's immigration minister said Tuesday.
Eric Besson was speaking in Folkestone, southern England, alongside British counterpart Phil Woolas at the inauguration of an information-sharing facility designed to crack down on illegal immigration.
"We think forced returns should be conducted under a European banner," he told a press conference.
But he added that "European cooperation should be much more developed" over the issue.
Human rights groups protested angrily last week after a flight carrying 27 Afghan deportees from Britain and France went back to Kabul.
The British-French migrant charter flight was the first organised jointly by the two countries since 2005.
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