Advertisement

UK seeks 'tougher action' from France on Channel migrants

AFP/The Local France
AFP/The Local France - [email protected]
UK seeks 'tougher action' from France on Channel migrants
Police officers stand next to migrants in Calais' harbour. Photo: BERNARD BARRON / AFP

Britain on Saturday urged France to get tougher on stopping migrants using the Channel to reach the UK, with one minister saying the crossings were "unacceptably high".

Advertisement

The call came after Border Force figures showed 96 migrants were intercepted by police on Friday. Twenty four hours earlier, official figures showed at least 202 migrants managed to cross to Britain in 20 boats, a single-day record.

"The number of illegal small boat crossings we are seeing from France is unacceptably high," said immigration compliance minister Chris Philp "And migrants continue to arrive in Calais to make the crossing. The French have to take tougher action."

Advertisement

Earlier this month, the interior ministers of France and Britain signed an agreement to create a new joint police intelligence unit to combat migrant traffickers and reduce the number of illegal Channel crossings.

Reports claim that more than 3,400 people have made the crossing so far this year.

In 2019, 2,758 migrants were rescued by the French and British authorities while trying to make the crossing -- four times more than in 2018, according to French officials.

More

Join the conversation in our comments section below. Share your own views and experience and if you have a question or suggestion for our journalists then email us at [email protected].
Please keep comments civil, constructive and on topic – and make sure to read our terms of use before getting involved.

Please log in to leave a comment.

Anonymous 2020/08/03 07:44
Why should we pay to stop people leaving our shores when the problem is blatantly an UK one. Perhaps if the UK were to stop the handouts the problem would dry up. We should be helping them to leave especially after January 1st 2021.

See Also