London [UK], July 10: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed on the need for a "new deterrent" to stop refugee and migrant crossings across the English Channel.
"The leaders agreed tackling the threat of irregular migration and small boat crossings is a shared priority that requires shared solutions," a British readout of Wednesday's meeting at 10 Downing Street said. "The two leaders agreed on the need to go further and make progress on new and innovative solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model of these gangs."
Macron is on a three-day state visit to the United Kingdom which has movedfrom the genteel royal pomp and ceremony to the harder edges of the political realm as his hosts press for new measures to curb undocumented immigration.
The number of refugees and migrants arriving on England's southern coast via small boats from northern France is a major political issue for the Labour government, which has seen the far-right Reform UK party make significant political gains with a hardline anti-immigration platform.
The talks come on Macron's second day of his visit to the UK, which began with a warm welcome from King Charles III and members of the royal family and a lavish banquet at Windsor Castle.
It's the first state visit by a French president to the UK since Nicolas Sarkozy in 2008 and the first by a European Union head of state since Brexit was made official in 2020. Macron's trip came at the invitation of King Charles III.
Macron addressed the British parliament on Tuesday, promising to deliver on measures to cut the number of people crossing the English Channel, describing the issue as a "burden" to both countries. He also said that France and the UK had a "shared responsibility to address irregular migration with humanity, solidarity and fairness".
Britain hopes to strike a "one in, one out" deal to send small boat refugees and migrants back to the continent, in exchange for the UK accepting asylum seekers in Europe who have a British link, the domestic Press Association news agency reported.
France has previously refused to sign such an agreement, saying the UK should negotiate an arrangement with all European Union countries. "This deal is far from being finished because there is a lot of opposition from certain European nations, which are usually the port of entry for people seeking to come to Europe, places like Spain, Malta, Italy, Greece and Cyprus," said Al Jazeera's Milena Veselinovic, reporting from London.
Source: Qatar Tribune
