UK and France double efforts to block migration across Channel

The UK and France have signed a new deal to stop migrants from crossing the English Channel irregularly in small boats, Britain’s Home Office announced on 29 November.

The agreement will double the number of French police patrolling beaches and increase surveillance using “drones, radar equipment, optronic binoculars and fixed cameras,” the UK government said in a statement.

UK interior minister Priti Patel said, “Thanks to more police patrols on French beaches and enhanced intelligence sharing between our security and law enforcement agencies, we are already seeing fewer migrants leaving French beaches.”

So far this year, about 615 small boats carrying at least 8,090 irregular migrants and asylum seekers have reached the UK which is four times higher than 2019.

TMP _ 3/12/2020

Photo credit: Jarretera

Photo caption: The English Channel