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Disinformation report hotline: 010-85061466
UK Border Force vessel "Defender," carrying migrants picked up at sea attempting to cross the English Channel from France, returns to the Marina in Dover, southeast England, January 17, 2024. /CFP
British interior minister James Cleverly and his French counterpart Gerald Darmanin on Tuesday agreed to accelerate the deployment of aerial surveillance equipment aimed at reducing the number of migrants crossing to Britain in small boats.
In recent years tens of thousands of migrants have sought to reach Britain from France's north coast, making dangerous and sometimes fatal attempts to navigate one of the world's busiest shipping lanes in small rubber dinghies.
The latest figures from the UK Home Office have shown over 1,000 people crossed so far in January from France to England, with 276 making the journey this last Sunday alone.
The influx of migrants has become a major political issue for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has pledged to "stop the boats," and pushed him to develop plans – currently mired in legal disputes – to deter migrants by sending them to Rwanda.
A statement issued by the British government after the latest talks in Paris said, "The Home Secretary (Cleverly) and Interior Minister Darmanin welcomed plans to accelerate delivery of the March 2023 UK-France Summit agreement.”
"These plans will expedite deployment of key aerial surveillance equipment, ensuring unprecedented levels of coverage to enable French law enforcement to intercept crossing attempts as quickly as possible."
The statement did not set out a timeline for the deployment.
Both Cleverly and Darmanin agreed to build closer ties in law enforcement and discussed convening a meeting of interior ministers from a group of northern European countries, called the Calais Group, on the topic of migration.
(With input from Reuters)