The French government is to meet with Sri Lankan authorities to clamp down on boat migration to Réunion, the Indian Ocean island which forms an overseas department and region of France.
In ten months, four boats from Sri Lanka have landed at Réunion carrying a total of 80 migrants. Some have been returned.
In the French Senate on Thursday, the senator for Réunion questioned the government on the issue and said, “beyond the human tragedy, the opening of this new migration route to Reunion is causing great concern among the population."
The Interior Minister’s secretary of state said that surveillance of the Réunion coast had been intensified since March last year.
The secretary Laurent Nunez also said a meeting had been set up for next week with Sri Lankan authorities.
"Our ambition is to be protective but at the same time very firm to prevent the re-establishment of a chain of illegal immigration".
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