France and Great Britain are stepping up cooperation to stop illegal immigration between the two countries across the English Channel.
According to the agreement signed on Monday, London will contribute 72.2 million euros to control the coastal parts of northwest France in the fiscal year 2022-2023, which is about ten million euros more than what is included in the current agreement.
Therefore, in return, Paris pledged to increase the number of border protection units by 40 percent and to use additional advanced technological devices, including drones, patrol helicopters and surveillance cameras.
In Calais and Dunkirk, the number of police and gendarmerie patrolling the coast will increase by about 350 people.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak stated that officials would be sent to France under the agreement to improve the efficiency and coordination of the operation.
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In the agreement signed by the British and French interior ministers, joint action against crimes committed along immigration routes and groups benefiting from illegal immigration was discussed.
And they affirmed in the joint statement issued: that the authorities of the two countries prevented more than 23,000 illegal crossings across the English Channel last year, and 30,000 so far this year, in addition to dismantling 55 organized criminal networks and arresting more than five. a hundred people.
According to data from the Ministry of Defense in London at the end of the week, 40,000 people have illegally crossed into Great Britain from the European continent since the beginning of the year. This number was about 28,000 in 2021 and 8,500 in 2020. Many have already lost their lives during the dangerous crossing.
Women and children are among the victims of the Franco-British migrant crisis
On Wednesday afternoon, fishermen alerted the French authorities to 15 dead bodies on the coast of Calais. The deceased was trying to reach Great Britain from France by boat across the English Channel.
Prepared with AP Coverage.
