UK to hand France £54m extra cash in new deal to help them stop migrants leaving their shores as number making perilous journey in 2021 hits 8,452 - already MORE than all of last year
- UK will hand £54million to French border force to tackle Channel crossings
- Home Secretary Priti Patel announced new agreement with French counterpart
- Numbers of French police officers patrolling northern beaches is set to double
- Comes as Britain received record 430 migrants yesterday and eclipsed 2020 total of more than 8,000
Priti Patel has agreed to give French border authorities £54million to help stop migrants crossing the Channel - as the total of arrivals in Britain this year hit 8,000.
The Home Secretary and France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed they had signed an agreement to strengthen UK-French cooperation on illegal immigration in the Channel.
It follows accusations of the French navy allowing small boats crowded with migrants to enter British waters rather than being returned to Calais.
At least 430 migrants sailed across the Channel yesterday in a new single-day record.
It is believed that at least 8,452 people have now made the crossing in 2021 - more than in the whole of 2020.
Priti Patel has agreed to give French border authorities £54million to help stop migrants crossing the Channel - as the total of arrivals in Britain this year hit 8,000
The extra funding will see police officers patrolling French beaches more than double to 200 in an effort to prevent departures into in the world's busiest shipping lane.
There will also be an increased use of aerial surveillance, including drones. The two countries agreed to draw up a long-term plan for a ‘smart border’ using technology to identify where crossings are being attempted.
There were extraordinary scenes in Kent earlier today that showed the scale of the issue.
With calm seas on one of the hottest days of the year, traffickers took their opportunity to send scores of migrants to the UK.
Dungeness was at the centre of the rush as wave upon wave arrived in boats on its pebbled beaches.
Many were in coats and jeans. Some were barefoot. But all those who were unmasked wore broad smiles. One man was dressed in a jacket that proclaimed ‘Live or Die’.
Groups started arriving at Dungeness from 9.30am. A further 12 migrants – mainly men – were filmed successfully landing their rigid hulled inflatable boat at 11.15am.
The men said they had paid £3,000 each for the ten-hour crossing.
The agreement comes as the Ms Patel's New Plan for Immigration is debated in Parliament this week. The Nationality and Borders Bill will crack down on illegal entry and the criminality associated with it, rather than allowing people to undertake dangerous journeys to the UK as their preferred destination.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: 'The British people have simply had enough of illegal migration and the exploitation of migrants by criminal gangs.
The Home Secretary and France's Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin confirmed they had signed an agreement to strengthen UK-French cooperation on illegal immigration in the Channel
The number of migrants crossing the Channel between 2019-21 has been increasing year-on-year. The graph above shows how many have crossed each month. The red line for 2021 soars above the lines for previous years, showing the monthly total is now at its highest ever
'Illegal immigration is driven by serious organised criminals and people smugglers. The public are rightly angry that small boats are arriving on our shores, facilitated by appalling criminal gangs who profit from human misery and put lives at risk.
'The Government is addressing the challenge of illegal migration for the first time in over two decades through comprehensive reform of our asylum system which will enable us to going after the gangs exploiting people, deter illegal entry into the UK, introduce new and tougher criminal offences for those attempting to enter the UK illegally and strengthen our ability to remove those with no legal right to be in the UK.'
With UK support last year, France doubled the number of officers deployed daily on French beaches, improved intelligence sharing and purchased more cutting-edge technology.
This resulted in France preventing twice as many crossings so far this year than in the same period in 2020.
However, as French interceptions increased, organised criminal gangs have changed their tactics, moving further up the French coast, and forcing migrants to take even longer, riskier journeys.
Thanks to support from the UK, the French will be able to respond by posting more security forces further up the coast, installing and utilising the latest surveillance equipment throughout northern France.
Labour dismissed the latest move as ‘empty promises’, saying the Tories are ‘letting down victims and allowing criminals to continue their evil trade’.
Charities branded the measures inhumane, while refugee rights campaigner Lord Dubs said Miss Patel’s plans were a ‘disservice to this country’s history’.
Tom Hunt, Tory MP for Ipswich, said: ‘We need to take control of this issue for ourselves and we shouldn’t be dependent on the French to sort it out for us. It is fair enough to work with the French but we should not be surprised if they continue to fall short.’
Miss Patel said last night: ‘Illegal immigration is driven by serious organised criminals and people smugglers.
‘The public are rightly angry that small boats are arriving on our shores, facilitated by appalling criminal gangs who profit from human misery and put lives at risk.’
