That includes 350 more gendarmes and police guarding beaches in Calais and Dunkirk, as well as more drones and night vision equipment to help officers detect crossings.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said the deal would mean “for the first time, British officials embedded in French operations to strengthen coordination and the effectiveness of our operations.”
He said the agreement would be “a foundation for even greater cooperation in the months ahead.”
The agreement, signed by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and British Home Secretary Suella Braverman in Paris, contains proposals to fight crime across migration routes, with the two countries now harvesting information from intercepted migrants to help tackle smuggling networks.
No specific target for boat interceptions was included in the agreement.
The U.K. receives fewer asylum-seekers than many European nations, including Italy, France and Germany, but thousands of migrants from around the world travel to northern France each year in hopes of crossing the channel. Some want to reach the U.K. because they have friends or family there, others because they speak English or because it’s perceived to be easy to find work.
In recent years there’s been a sharp increase in the number of people attempting the journey in dinghies and other small craft as authorities clamped down on other routes such as stowing away on buses.
More than 40,000 people have arrived in Britain after making the hazardous Channel trip so far this year, up from 28,000 in all of 2021 and 8,500 in 2020.
The European Union borders and coast guard agency, Frontex, says 62,323 migrants were detected in the channel in the first 10 months of 2022, a 70% increase on the same period last year. The figure includes both successful and intercepted crossings.
Dozens have died in the attempt, including 27 people in November 2021 when a packed smuggling boat capsized.
Britain and France have long wrangled over how to stop the people-smuggling gangs that organize the journeys.
Monday’s announcement comes as Sunak, who took office three weeks ago, aims to improve relations with Britain’s neighbors, which soured under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his briefly serving successor Liz Truss.
Sunak met French President Emmanuel Macron last week at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, and the first U.K.-France summit in several years is planned for early 2023.
In another attempt to deter the crossings, Britain’s government has announced a controversial plan to send people who arrive in small boats on a one-way journey to Rwanda — a plan it says will break the business model of smuggling gangs. Critics say the plan is immoral and impractical, and it is being challenged in the courts.
Critics also have slammed the British government for failing to process asylum applications quickly, leaving thousands of people stuck in overcrowded holding centers and temporary accommodation.
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council charity in Britain, said enforcement measures would do little to stop the cross-channel traffic.
“The government must take a more comprehensive approach and create an orderly, fair and humane asylum system that recognizes that the vast majority of those taking dangerous journey are refugees escaping for their lives,” he said. “It needs to face up to the fact it is a global issue which will not be resolved by enforcement measures alone.”
Braverman, a champion of the Rwanda plan who has been accused by critics of demonizing migrants, acknowledged “there are no quick fixes” for the complex issue.
“But this new arrangement will mean we can significantly increase the number of French gendarmes patrolling the beaches in northern France and ensure U.K. and French officers are working hand in hand to stop the people smugglers,” she told broadcasters.
Lawless reported from London. ___
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