UK, France sign three-year deal to stop migrant crossings

LOON-PLAGE (France): Britain and France on Thursday signed a new three-year deal to stop undocumented migrants making the risky journey across the Channel in small boats. Under the deal, France pledged to increase law enforcement personnel on the coast by more than half — reaching 1,400 officers by 2029. Britain will in return provide up to 766 million euros ($897 million) in funding, though nearly a quarter of that — 186 million euros — are conditional on the measures being effective. The cross-Channel neighbours have wrangled for months over renewing the Sandhurst treaty, which sets out the United Kingdom’s financial contribution to French efforts to stop migrants attempting the perilous sea crossing to Britain. The United Kingdom has accused France of doing too little to prevent would-be asylum seekers from setting off from French shores, with smugglers and migrants taking ever-greater risks to avoid detection. As a result, London insisted it would only renew the Sandhurst treaty — first signed in 2018, extended in 2023 and set to expire this year — if it could impose conditions on how some of its money is used by the French government.

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