Paris (CNN) The United Kingdom said on Friday it would pay $576 million over the next three years as part of a deal with France to tackle illegal immigration in the English Channel.
The deal was announced during a joint summit between British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Friday.
A joint statement from the two countries said the money would go towards a new detention center for migrants in France and the deployment of 500 French security and aid agents to “enable the fastest detection of attempted crossings by small boats”.
In Friday’s meeting, the two leaders stressed their countries’ deepening ties after years of tensions over Brexit talks, fishing rights, a submarine deal with Australia and immigration.
“The level of ambition of this plan is exactly what we need,” Macron said, adding, “It is not an agreement between Britain and France, but between Britain and the European Union.”
Sunak, who faces criticism from human rights groups for his moves to block cross-Channel immigration with a new law criticized as racist, illegal and impractical, said Britain “will always live up to our international treaty obligations”. will follow.”
The UK has seen an increase in the number of illegal migrants who pay human trafficking gangs to be smuggled into the UK in small, non-seaworthy boats. Many of these boats have sunk and people have died.
The 19-page joint statement from the Elysee Palace focused on the potential for greater defense cooperation between the two nuclear powers, from the deployment of fighter jets on each other’s aircraft carriers to the joint production of future cruise missiles Is.
On Ukraine, the leaders promised closer cooperation, particularly with regard to the provision of equipment and munitions to Kiev.
He also pledged support for the training of Ukrainian marines in the UK, while offering to extend “security guarantees” with Ukraine that would help [Kyiv] In order to protect ourselves in the long run and deter possible future attacks, the joint statement said.