Joint statement from the Home Secretary and the French Interior Minister

Summary of a meeting with the Home Secretary and her French counterpart on illegal Channel crossings.

From:

Home Office and The Rt Hon Priti Patel MP

On Monday 15 November, 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 two ministers also committed to reinforcing intelligence sharing and police cooperation.

The Home Secretary also raised issues of wider migration challenges across Europe, including ongoing issues at the Polish border where the UK stood in solidarity with its European partners.

They agreed to stay in contact in the coming weeks and to ask their departments to take forward delivery of agreed actions.