UK strikes deal with France to beef up border protection
The number of officers patrolling French beaches near Calais will double in a bid to stop increasing numbers of migrant boats crossing the channel in attempts to reach the UK border.
The UK and French governments struck a deal yesterday to enforce the increased measures, with the Home Office saying it “will bolster the patrolling of the 150-kilometre stretch of coastline regularly targeted by people-smuggling networks and enable quicker response rates to suspicious activity”.
Home secretary Priti Patel said earlier this year at the Tory party conference that she would overhaul the UK’s asylum system in the face of increasing numbers of illegal boat crossings.
More than 8,000 people have crossed the channel to try to reach the UK border this year alone.
In a statement released last night, 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.
“The actions we have agreed jointly today go further, doubling the number of police officers on the ground in France, increasing surveillance and introducing new cutting edge technology, representing a further step forward in our shared mission to make channel crossings completely unviable.
“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.”
Amnesty International UK called the new measures “profoundly disappointing”.