UK TO PAY $577M TO HELP FRANCE CLAMP DOWN ON MIGRANTS CROSSING CHANNEL

Fri 10 March 2023:

Britain will pay France around £480 million ($577 million) over the next three years to help clamp down on migrants travelling to Britain in small boats, helping to fund more patrols and enhanced technology, Reuters reports.

The new deal was announced by British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron during a summit designed to reset ties after years of bickering over Brexit.

The meeting was the first summit of Europe’s two main military nations – both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and nuclear powers – in five years.

As part of the new deal, Britain will help fund a detention centre in France. The two countries also agreed to send officers from Britain’s National Crime Agency and its French counterpart to countries along the routes favoured by people traffickers.

The funding package will be paid in instalments, with the French also contributing significantly more funding, they said.

Ties between the two countries have often been rocky since Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016, but have been fortified by the countries’ support for Ukraine since Russia’s invasion.

The British government outlined a new draft immigration law on Tuesday that aims to deter migrants boarding dinghies to cross the Channel, one of the world’s busiest shipping channels.

The law, which would prevent people who arrived in the UK illegally from making an asylum claim, provoked an outcry from rights groups.

President Macron said he wants France to have the “best possible relations” with the UK but that they need to “fix” the consequences of Brexit.

Following today’s talks in Paris with Rishi Sunak, the French leader hailed a “new beginning” in the Anglo-French relationship following the turbulence of recent years.

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