France and Britain agree: surveillance technology and greater use of police officers should reduce illegal migration across the English Channel.

In order to reduce the increasing number of illegal immigrant crossings across the English Channel from France to Great Britain, the two countries have reached a comprehensive agreement. French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin and his British counterpart Suella Braverman signed the agreement in Paris on Monday, which for the first time provides for British officials to be sent to France as observers and vice versa. According to the Paris Ministry of the Interior, the number of police officers deployed on the north coast of France will increase by 40 percent and new surveillance technology will be used.

The agreement continues the existing cooperation between the two countries in the fight against illegal crossings of the channel. Britain pays France an amount of 72.2 million euros for increased border protection in 2022/2023. In particular, both countries want to target illegal arrivals from Albania, where, according to British figures, nearly a third of migrants crossing the English Channel come from. So far this year, more than 40,000 people have entered the UK illegally, significantly more than in all of 2021. This is a thorn in the side of the Conservative government in London.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, on his way to the G20 summit in Indonesia on Monday, expressed confidence that the deal with France would significantly reduce the number of illegal crossings. In the past, dealing with migration across the English Channel was often a bone of contention between the two countries.