British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron, at a summit aimed at rebuilding relations after years of disputes due to Brexit, agreed to strengthen their cooperation on managing immigration. Sunak has made stopping the arrival of boats one of his top five priorities after the number of migrants exceeded 45,000 last year, marking a 500 percent increase over the past two years. Macron stated, "It is time for a fresh start."
Britain will pay France £480 million ($577 million) over three years in an attempt to deter migrants from traveling in small boats, helping to fund enhanced patrols, the use of drones, and a detention center.
As part of the new agreement, Britain will help finance a detention center in France, while Paris will deploy more French security personnel and advanced technology to patrol its shores.
The two countries will seek to work with nations along the routes favored by human traffickers. They stated that the funding package will be paid in installments, with the French contributing a significantly larger share of the funding.
