Home secretary Priti Patel and French minister vow to make Channel crossings 'unviable'
07:46, 16 November 2021
updated: 16:14, 16 November 2021
The Home Secretary and her French counterpart have both vowed to make asylum seeker crossings "unviable".
It comes after it was revealed 1,185 people reached the UK via the Channel in a single day last week - which was a new record.
Britain and France both pledged to prevent "100% of crossings" and "strengthen operational cooperation further".
Home secretary Priti Patel and the French interior minister, Gérald Darmanin, spoke last night about small boats crossing the Channel and the operational response to it.
In a joint statement, they both agreed more must be done to tackle the issue.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "Both the home secretary and interior minister agreed to strengthen operational cooperation further. More must be done to stop the dangerous crossings.
"They agreed to accelerate the delivery of the commitments made in the joint agreement of July 2021 to deliver on their joint determination to prevent 100% of crossings and make this deadly route unviable.
"They discussed a range of additional steps, alongside additional technical solutions to tackle organised crime groups and respond to the escalating issue.
"It was agreed that the joint technical working group will meet imminently with a view to permitting the use of new technology as rapidly as possible."
The statement adds the two ministers committed to reinforcing intelligence sharing and police cooperation.
They have agreed to stay in contact over the coming weeks and ask their departments to "take forward delivery of agreed actions".
The news comes after it was revealed almost 700 asylum seekers were intercepted or rescued by UK authorities in a single day on Wednesday.
And 1,185 people reached the UK on Thursday - which was a new record.
It comes despite a series of recent deaths in the past few weeks as asylum seekers try to cross the Channel.
In 2019, Home Secretary Priti Patel promised to make crossings an “infrequent phenomenon” by spring 2020 and then pledged in August last year to “make this route unviable.”
During this time, the government has agreed to pay France millions of pounds to increase security on its northern coast.
Bridget Chapman from Kent Refugee Action Network said:"This is like Groundhog Day. At least once a month the Home Secretary declares she will make this route 'unviable'. She's spent millions of pounds of public money in her efforts and the result is even more chaos and an increasing death toll.
"Although I repeatedly see the claim that record numbers are crossing, this is simply not true. Overall numbers are around average, it's just that the method of arrival has changed.
"The numbers are actually entirely manageable and the smugglers' business model would be destroyed overnight if we offered those needing to cross to seek asylum better options, such as a humanitarian visa which would mean that they could make the journey safely.
"France already accepts three times more asylum claims than the UK and we must accept our share of the responsibility to provide sanctuary. Refugees make up 0.26% of the UK population; it's a relatively tiny number and we have room for more."
