UK and France announce deal to deal with migrants crossing the Channel
Britain and France have announced an expansion of their immigration agreement aimed at curbing the rise of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel to Britain in small ships.
The two countries have been negotiating for months about renewing a longstanding deal to police the Strait.
More than 40,000 have crossed the Channel so far this year, up from 28,526 in 2021, according to the UK Ministry of Defense. Many of them are Albanians, some from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq.
The British government is under increasing pressure from Conservative MPs to block people arriving in the UK in small boats organized by a number of trafficking gangs. There are also safety concerns, with people drowning while trying to cross.
The deal includes increased payments from London to Paris and closer ties between border security teams in both countries. The annual amount Britain pays to France is expected to increase from her €62.7m in 2021-22 to her €72m in 2022-23.
Since 2018, a total of €200 million has been transferred from London to Paris for border security. France spends a total of €250 million each year on all border issues with the UK.
Under the revised agreement, French officials said the number of police officers patrolling to stop small boat crossings would increase from 200 to 300 by the middle of next year, and the cost of additional surveillance would go up in Britain. In 2018, there were just 90 officers on patrol.
The French operations center will be strengthened. British Border Patrol officers will be present as observers for the first time, and this will be done with respect for French sovereignty.
One observer from the British border police will enter France and one French officer will be present on the British side. The aim is to seek better information sharing between the two governments.
French officials said they had blocked more than half of the attempted channel crossings by November 10 this year: 982 out of about 1,900.
“We need the cooperation of France and Britain on this issue,” said Olivier Véran, spokesman for the French government. [of the]channel, does not work. We must and will work together in a determined and determined way. ”
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed the deal, saying it was an example of “only by working together with other countries can we move forward on matters that affect people at home”.
Speaking to reporters en route to the G20 summit in Bali, Sunak said he was pleased with the 40% increase in patrols and cooperation between British and French border authorities. “But that is not the end of our cooperation and this agreement should lay the foundation for even greater cooperation in the coming months,” he added.
Meanwhile, UK immigration minister Robert Jenrick said his “generosity” towards refugees was being “abused” and would crack down on asylum seekers being held in UK hotels at a cost of £5.6m a day. I swore.
In an article for The Sunday Telegraph, Jenrik said:
He also developed a 10-point plan to tackle the immigration crisis. This includes a speedy deportation scheme for Albanians.
https://www.ft.com/content/843f1f9c-6899-40f6-9abc-ce8f2b01fb48 UK and France announce deal to deal with migrants crossing the Channel