On Friday, London and Paris reached a new agreement to curb illegal immigration from France to the United Kingdom. The agreement includes an increase in funding over the next three years on the British side, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Emmanuel Macron announced in Paris.
"Over the next three years, the UK's contribution will be €141 million in 2023-24, €191 million in 2024-25 and €209 million in 2025-2026," according to a statement issued after the Franco-British summit.
Ways to "increase the interception rate"
"We are announcing a new detention centre in northern France, a new command centre bringing together our teams for the first time [...] and 500 new additional officers patrolling French beaches," the British Prime Minister said at a press conference. More drones and other surveillance technologies will complement the device "to increase the interception rate," he said.
The French president, for his part, stressed that the two countries wanted to "move forward together" in the fight against illegal immigration while being "aware of the human stakes" and "the extreme sensitivity of these subjects". He recalled that in 2022, "more than 1,300 crossings of makeshift boats" had been "prevented", 55 organized crime networks dismantled, "thanks to the work of the joint Franco-British intelligence cell". Conversely, nearly 46,000 were able to make the crossing last year.
The two countries had signed a new agreement in mid-November to fight together against the crossings of migrants from the Channel. But funding was planned until 2023 only. "We have, today, decided to continue in this direction in a very operational and concrete way, aware of the shared nature of our responsibility," said Emmanuel Macron.
- World
- Great Britain
- Illegal immigration
- Migrants
- Hauts-de-France
- Emmanuel Macron