Michael Tomlinson MP welcomed the UK-France Migration Deal, which was signed earlier this week.
Numbers of officers in northern France will increase by 40% over the coming months to step up action to reduce illegal small boat crossings, following the deal. The Home Secretary, Suella Braverman has finalised the arrangement with the French Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin. The new agreement lays the foundations for deeper UK-French co-operation to tackle illegal migration and marks the next step for the close operational partnership between the 2 countries which has prevented over 30,000 crossings this year.
The arrangement means that specialist UK officers will also be embedded with their French counterparts, which will increase information sharing, improve understanding of the threat, and ensure UK expertise is at the heart of efforts to disrupt crossings and clamp down on people smugglers. This more integrated approach will also include strengthened operational co-operation, including joint UK-France analysis teams supporting the co-ordination and exchange of information by French-command HQ.
Joint working between UK and French officers so far has secured more than 140 convictions connected to people smuggling since the start of 2020 – and these criminals now face a combined 400 years behind bars.
The UK-France Joint Intelligence Cell, which has so far dismantled 55 organised crime groups and secured over 500 arrests since its inception in 2020, will also be expanded. A new taskforce will also be set up, focused on reversing the recent rise in Albanian nationals and organised crime groups exploiting illegal migration routes into Western Europe and the UK.
The renewed partnership marks the next step in joint efforts to reduce these dangerous crossings and paves the way for deeper co-operation between the 2 countries in future, looking ahead to next year’s UK-France leaders’ summit.
Michael said:
“I’m pleased that this deal has been worked out. As the Home Secretary said, this is not a silver bullet, but it does show real progress with this difficult issue”
