UK, France Ink Agreement To Tackle Illegal Immigration From The English Channel

The United Kingdom’s Home Secretary Priti Patel and the French Interior Minister Gerald Dermain have signed a new agreement to resist illegal immigration via the English Channel, ANI reports. The measures include increasing the number of French coastline officers from 1 December and further equipping them.

“The number of officers patrolling French beaches will double as a result of a new agreement reached by the Home Secretary and her French counterpart today to tackle migrant activity in the Channel. [Patel and Darmanin] reaffirmed their commitment to make this route unviable,” a release from the UK Home Office read.

The release states that a cooperation framework will be built upon. This system has already proven effective considering that the intercepted and prevented crossing attempts have increased to 60% in recent weeks as compared to 41% in 2019.

The agreement aims at facilitating more police patrols on the French beaches and ensuring a greater sharing of intelligence between the two countries’ security and law enforcement agencies.

France’s officers on the coastline will also be provided with a developed package of “cutting edge surveillance technology” that comprises of fixed camera, optronic binoculars, drones, radar equipment so that they can stop migrants departing from the French beaches right there.

The two countries are working towards correcting a “broken asylum system”. They wish to welcome migrants needing asylum through an appropriate legal procedure but reject those who arrive from “safe EU countries” to exploit the process.

“On top of these new operational plans, we will introduce a new asylum system that is firm and fair, and I will bring forward new legislation next year to deliver on that commitment,” Patel quipped.