Britain and France agree fresh push on illegal migrants

PARIS/LONDON: Britain and France on Monday signed an agreement worth 72.2 million euros ($74.5 million) over the coming year to ramp up efforts to stop illegal migrants from making perilous journeys across the Channel.

The multi-year deal includes a 40 per cent increase in the number of British-funded French officers patrolling French beaches in the next five months.

So far this year more than 40,000 people have crossed the Channel to Britain in small boats, up from 28,526 last year, putting pressure on new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and interior minister Suella Braverman to do more to stem the flow.

Last month Braverman said Britain faced an “invasion”, as the government was criticised for conditions at an overcrowded migrant processing centre in southern England.

“It is in the interests of both the UK and French governments to work together to solve this complex problem,” Braverman said after meeting French interior minister Gerald Darmanin in Paris.

Relations between Britain and France had soured in recent years, first under Boris Johnson who led the United Kingdom out of the European Union, and then further when Sunak’s predecessor, Liz Truss, questioned whether French President Emmanuel Macron was a friend or foe.

Sunak has sought to reset this, including meeting with Macron at the COP27 climate summit last week.