France and Great Britain have signed a new agreement on Monday to try to stop the passage of migrants through the English Channel, which this year has reached a record volume of more than 40,000 people, according to British authorities. The commitment provides for London to pay Paris 72.2 million euros -in the period 2022-2023- to pay for surveillance operations on the coast and at sea, which will mean mobilizing some 350 additional agents.
The agreement has been signed in Paris between the respective interior ministers, the French Gérard Darmanin, and his British counterpart, Suella Braverman. The text sets the objective of deploying "the technological and human resources" necessary on the French coast to detect and intercept the boats that intend to cross the channel with irregular migrants.
For years, the crossing of the English Channel by small boats, as the British call small boats, has been one of the reasons for friction between London and Paris, whose relations after Brexit have experienced very difficult times, for example regarding to fishing rights.
The control of the beaches on the French bank of the channel is complicated. It is about dozens of kilometers of coastline, with wide beaches and areas of dunes. French police and gendarmes use off-road motorcycles and also drones. The British have frequently accused the French of laxity, of allowing migrants to board to get rid of the problem of their presence.
The new agreement provides funds for the purchase and training of detection dogs in ports, security cameras and the creation of reception centers in the south of France to dissuade those who arrive from embarking on the path to the English Channel.
Migrant crossings across the English Channel have killed at least 200 people since 2014, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The worst known drama occurred on November 24, 2021, when the shipwreck of a boat resulted in the death of 27 migrants.
Spain is indirectly involved in the English Channel crisis. France complains that too many migrants, after crossing the Mediterranean, manage to cross the Pyrenees and continue north. This is why, in recent years, border posts have been closed and controls are often carried out that should not take place between the Schengen countries.
