Britain, France to Strike New Border Deal on Migrants

Britain will agree to take in more young refugees while providing “significant” funds for northern France’s economic development under a new border agreement to be struck between Emmanuel Macron and Theresa May on Thursday, French sources told AFP.

Macron, making his first visit to the UK as France’s president, will meet with Prime Minister May for a summit where the migrant crisis and Britain’s exit from the European Union are expected to loom large.

They will “amend” the 2003 Le Touquet accord that effectively put Britain’s border on French soil at Calais, a source in the French presidency said Wednesday -- a deal which critics say has made the port city a magnet for thousands of migrants dreaming of Britain.

Their talks will also focus on bolstering defence cooperation as well as the Brexit process that has seen tensions flare between Britain and the remaining 27 members of the bloc.

Also on the menu will be efforts to fight climate change and a host of economic and innovation projects, including new sister-city agreements and exchanges of cultural works -- most significantly a loan by France of the 11th-century Bayeux Tapestry depicting the 1066 conquest of Britain.

The details of the new migrant accord are “still being finalised”, said the source, who asked not to be named, but it will include measures on handling unaccompanied minors, asylum requests and family regroupings.

Macron had said in Calais this week that he would insist on the case of minors “because there are more and more of them”, with officials warning there could be 25,000 young migrants on their own in France by the end of this year.

Of the roughly 2,000 minors at the huge “Jungle” camp near Calais which was cleared 15 months ago, London promised to take in those who had family members already in Britain.

In the end, just 893 were allowed entry, and in the past year just eight minors have been taken in.