British prime minister Rishi Sunak on Monday expressed hope about working with France to combat illegal immigration. His spokesperson claimed that the two countries were close to a new agreement to reduce the number of people crossing the English Channel.
“A deal is being discussed and I think is in its final stages,” said the spokesperson.
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Sunak met French President Emmanuel Macron at the ongoing COP27 climate summit in Egypt, their first in-person meeting since the former took up his position as the UK PM. The British PM said that the meeting with Macron was great and provided a chance to collaborate with France and other nations to combat illegal immigration.
He told reporters, “You will hear more details about that in the coming weeks, as those conversations happen amongst all our teams”.
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“I’m actually leaving this with renewed confidence and optimism that working together with our European partners, we can make a difference, grip this challenge of illegal migration and stop people coming illegally,” he added.
This comes as the relationship between France and Britain in recent times saw deterioration, first under Boris Johnson, then under Liz Truss, Sunak’s immediate predecessor.
Over the course of this year, more than 40,000 people—up from 28,526 last year—have travelled across the English Channel in tiny boats, reports Reuters.
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British officials have previously claimed that in order to address this, they want to post immigration authorities in France who will work with French police officers to prevent the departure of additional boats from French shores.
However, they say that France has opposed such appeals out of worry that the action would endanger its sovereignty.
(With inputs from agencies)
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