UK, France sign new deal to stop Channel migrant crossings

By Ahmet Gurhan Kartal

LONDON (AA) – Britain and France on Monday signed a new joint declaration to stop Channel migrant crossings.

French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin shared on Twitter a video showing the signing ceremony in Paris with British Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

Gerald Darmanin also shared the details of the new deal to ramp up efforts to halt the illegal crossings from France to the UK shores.

The UK pledged to provide €72.2 million ($74.6 million) “to fight illegal immigration,” he also said.

Braverman, for her part, stressed the need for doing "everything we can" to stop this crossings.

"This is a global challenge requiring global solutions, and it is in the interests of both the UK and French governments to work together to solve this complex problem," she said.

Meanwhile, in a statement regarding the joint step, British Foreign Office said that numbers of officers in northern France will increase by 40% over the coming months.

"The new agreement lays the foundations for deeper UK-French co-operation to tackle illegal migration and marks the next step for the close operational partnership between the two countries which has prevented over 30,000 crossings this year," the statement added.

According to the deal, the border staff will be increased by 40%, funding for new surveillance equipment will be provided, and coordination and information sharing between the two countries will be strengthened.

More than 40,000 migrants have arrived in the UK this year by boats and small dinghies.