The Home Secretary Suella Braverman is in Paris to put pen to paper on a 72m euro (£63m) deal which will see UK officials joining operations in France for the first time to halt unauthorised Channel crossings.
Braverman met her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin on Monday morning and said the agreement was “a foundation” for more co-operation in coming months.
Under the terms of the new deal, the amount the UK pays France to cover the cost of increased patrols will go up from around £55m a year to £63m.
It will see the number of officers patrolling the French coast rising from 200 to 300 and British stationed in French control rooms for the first time.
The deal also includes:
- Investment for port security infrastructure in France to prevent illegal migrants crossing the Channel in lorries, including more CCTV and detection dog teams
- More technology such as drones and night vision for officers
- Funding for reception and removal centres in France for migrants whose journeys to the UK are disrupted
Speaking to reporters on his way to the G20 summit in Bali, PM Rishi Sunak said he was “pleased” to be signing the deal with France and that it was necessary to “grip illegal migration”.
“A couple of highlights are a 40% increase in the number of patrols happening, and for the first time, British officials embedded in French operations to strengthen co-ordination and the effectiveness of our operations,” he said.
“But that isn’t the end of our co-operation. What the agreement says is that should be a foundation for even greater co-operation in the months ahead”.
He added that he was “confident” the number of small boat crossings would come down over time.
More than 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to the UK this year, according to government figures. On Saturday, 972 people were detected in 22 boats, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
In 2021, there were 28,561 crossings recorded.
The deal also comes following weeks of criticism aimed at the government over concerns about conditions at the Manston migrant centre in Kent. An inspection of the centre in July found that “the length of detention was far too long, often more than 24 hours and sometimes far in excess of this”.
In October, the chief inspector of borders and immigration David Neal told MPs that the position at Manston was “unsafe, understaffed and wretched”.
In total, 4,000 people were reported to be staying in Manston there rather than the 1,600 for which the site was intended.
Numbers have since been reduced to less than 1,600, according to immigration minister Robert Jenrick.
