Joint Channel Security

UK and France Deploy New Security Team to Stop Channel Mega Dinghies

A new team of 45 officers from the UK and France will be deployed on French beaches to combat ‘mega dinghy” launches along the coast. This will bring the total number of French officers to nearly 1,050. The move comes as French president Emmanuel Macron meets with UK prime minister Andy Burnham. The UK is paying France around £662m over the next three years to fund policing of northern French beaches, with around £160m earmarked for new tactics such as policing to stop “taxi boats” picking up migrants offshore. While small boat crossings to the UK have dropped by 23% year-on-year, the number of migrants arriving on small boats has risen.