18 Dec 2020
The French Office for Immigration and Integration (OFII) is offering €1,850 to migrants in Calais to return to their home countries instead of trying to enter Britain illegally.
The offer of cash would also include a free one-way aeroplane ticket to any migrant who has been in French territory for at least six months as long as they are an illegal alien or a failed asylum seeker.
An additional €3,500 is available to migrants to finance a project in their country of origin, as well.
Pierre-André Henot is a member of the OFII who makes the offer in-person to migrants in Calais. France Info reported on Mr Henot’s trip to a food distribution site in the coastal city, with migrants responding to his proposition with amusement, some shaking their heads, declining.