Guidance

UK-France joint statement: next phase of collaboration on tackling illegal migration - 28 November 2020

Published 28 November 2020

The Interior Minister of France, Mr Gérald Darmanin, and the Home Secretary of the UK, Ms Priti Patel, spoke today to discuss the UK and France’s extensive collaboration in the fight against illegal immigration over our shared border, including the need to prevent illegal maritime crossings, and the public security challenge which they create on both sides of the Channel.

The ministers underlined that the high levels of illegal crossings this year were completely unacceptable and need to be firmly addressed. The recent tragic drownings demonstrated the risk to life which remains the foremost concern for both governments. The involvement of ruthless organised criminals who exploit vulnerable migrants is well documented and will continue to be tackled with full determination by the authorities in both countries.

For all these reasons, both ministers share an absolute commitment to working together to eliminate the small boats phenomenon and today jointly announce new measures with the objective of preventing the crossings completely and deterring journeys to the Calais area and the formation of illegal camps.

The ministers agreed that the work of law enforcement agencies to prevent and stop these crossings has never been more effective, with the intervention success rate increasing from 41% in 2019 rising to 60% in recent weeks. Despite these extensive efforts, the number of attempts to cross the Channel by small boat remains too high.

The ministers recognised and welcomed recent efforts to combat this phenomenon:

• an increased law enforcement presence on the coast between Boulogne and Dunkirk
• an increase in the number of land patrols
• better use of detection equipment
• a renewed focus on tackling criminal smuggling networks where the new joint intelligence cell (JIC) targeting migrant trafficking has begun to demonstrate real tangible results - since it opened in July the JIC has helped secure around 140 arrests and prevented approximately 1,100 crossings

Both ministers agreed on the importance of continuing to work closely together at all levels in the context of clear and specific shared objectives and performance metrics which allow for progress to be measured and results to be evaluated. In that regard, the UK and France have agreed a new joint operational plan to optimise the use of human resources and equipment with the aim of completely stopping the crossings.

This plan will be effective in the coming days and includes:

• a significant increase in law enforcement deployments to investigate, deter and prevent crossings
• rolling out a new wave of cutting-edge surveillance and detection technology to detect and disrupt crossing attempts before they happen
• steps to support migrants into appropriate accommodation in order to take them out of the hands of criminal gangs
• measures to increase border security to reduce opportunities for smuggling and ensure that we also avoid illegal migration through freight traffic

The UK has pledged to make a further financial investment of €31.4 million to support France’s significant efforts against small boats in the above areas.

Within the next 6 months, the results will be reviewed to evaluate the effectiveness and impact of these additional measures. This reflects the ministers’ firm view that the UK and France must work in close partnership at every level to tackle a shared threat, break the cycle of criminal activity, to save lives and to protect communities. The ministers look forward to a continued dialogue about a broad range of matters to achieve a reduction of migratory pressures on the shared border, in the short and longer term.