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UK urges France for 'tougher action' on Channel migrants

WION Web Team
London, United KingdomUpdated: Aug 01, 2020, 09:15 PM IST
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Border police patrolling the Channel to reach the UK Photograph:(AFP)

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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.

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".

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."

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.