UK and EU to ink new agreement to address minor boat crossings

The UK is making an agreement with the EU’s border agency to work together to stop small boats from crossing the English Channel.

We made a deal with Frontex to share more information and knowledge.

This is the newest step in a plan to work together to stop illegal immigration.

Last year, about 30,000 people moved from France to the UK by crossing the Channel. This was a decrease of one third from 2022.

However, the overall amount was still the second highest number ever.

The agreement involves training for the UK and EU border agencies to learn from successful strategies in other countries, working together to create new technologies, and sending staff to both sides to coordinate efforts to prevent people from crossing the border.

Frontex and UK Border Force officials will sign the agreement in London. The Home Secretary and the European Commissioner for Home Affairs will also be there.

Mr Cleverly said that immigration crime and people smuggling are big problems all around the world, and we need to work together to find solutions.

“Our important agreement with Frontex and the UK is a big move in stopping illegal migration, keeping our borders safe, and preventing boats from coming in. ”

The home secretary said on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the deal is about sharing information and cooperating on operations, not about sending migrants back to their home countries.

He said the government is thinking about making agreements with more countries to return people, like they did with Albania in December 2022.

Lucy Moreton, who represents border force staff, said that the deal will not address the bigger problem of migration because it does not include a returns agreement.

She said Today that the UK would not regain access to the Eurodac database after Brexit.

The database keeps the fingerprints of asylum seekers and migrants who have come into a European country. This can prove that they have permission to live in other countries and help them go back.

Last year, the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that stopping the boats was one of his five main goals.

Up to now, 1,716 people have crossed the dangerous way this year, which is less than the 2,720 people in the same time last year.

In May, Mr Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen agreed to work together to stop small boats from crossing the UK-EU border. Now they have made a deal to put their agreement into action.

In March, the UK agreed to give France almost £500m over three years to help hire more police officers and build a new jail.