The UK and France have signed a new agreement to curb migrant crossings in the English Channel, with both countries pledging to double police patrols along a 150km stretch of French coastline. Home Secretary Priti Patel and French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin said the measures aim to make the route 'unviable' after more than 8,000 people crossed in small boats this year.
The deal includes enhanced surveillance technology such as drones, radar, cameras, and optronic binoculars to help French police detect and stop migrants before they embark. It also provides for accommodation support for migrants in France and increased border security at northern and western ports. The Home Office said the proportion of crossings intercepted has risen from 41% last year to 60% in recent weeks.
However, the announcement faced sharp criticism. Bella Sankey, director of charity Detention Action, called it an 'extraordinary mark of failure' akin to 'rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic'. Amnesty International UK described it as 'profoundly disappointing'. Shadow Home Secretary Nick Thomas-Symonds argued that the Conservatives have 'regularly announced progress and not delivered'.
Patel defended the agreement, stating it would 'make a difference' and blamed criminal gangs for facilitating dangerous journeys. She noted that the cost charged by traffickers has decreased, leading more people to risk the crossing. Despite deteriorating weather, UK Border Force continues to intercept migrants, with numbers this year far exceeding the 1,835 who reached the UK in 2019.
A recent report by Gisti, a legal service for asylum seekers in France, documented nearly 300 border-related deaths in and around the English Channel since 1999, describing the evolution of border security as a 'history of death'. The report claimed that increasingly militarised responses have forced migrants to use more dangerous routes.
