French Policing Cuts English Channel Migrant Crossings 43% to 16,500 Through August
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 24
French Policing Cuts English Channel Migrant Crossings 43% to 16,500 Through August
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 24
Summary
16,500 migrants reached Britain by small boat through August, down from about 29,000 a year earlier, as France intensified efforts to stop departures from its northern coast.
French police have increased patrols around Dunkirk beaches and nearby routes, often intercepting groups before they reach the water in operations officials say are backed largely by British funding.
The crackdown targets a long-running cross-Channel route that has strained relations between London and Paris since the 1990s and remains a potent political issue in Britain.
Laurent Nuñez, France’s interior minister, said renewed Franco-British cooperation against irregular migration in northern France is now “bearing fruit.”