Rishi Sunak pleads for EU help in stopping migrant boats crossing the Channel

17 May 2023 , 10:29

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Thousands of migrants have crossed the Channel in small inflatables already this year (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

Britain and Brussels have agreed to do more to tackle illegal migration across the Channel as Rishi Sunak desperately tries to keep a key Tory pledge.

The Prime Minister has staked his premiership on “stopping the boats” - but more than 6,000 migrants have reached British shores after making the perilous journey across the Strait of Dover so far this year.

The PM held talks with European Commission President Ursula Von der Leyen on the margins of a Council of Europe meeting in Icelandic capital Reykjavik.

The pair underlined a "shared interest" in tackling cross-border crime and people trafficking, according to No10.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “They agreed to strengthen cooperation between the EU and UK on migration through developing a new working arrangement between UK agencies and Frontex (the EU’s border agency), enabling us to work together on critical operational and strategic challenges including the situation in the Channel.

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Rishi Sunak and Ursula von der Leyen held talks on the fringes of the Council of Europe summit in Reykjavik (PA)

“UK and EU teams will now discuss the details and operationalisation of this new working arrangement.”

Mr Sunak had sought to make migration a key topic at the summit in Reykjavik, warning leaders the international system for policing human trafficking is "not working".

He also called for reforms to European Court of Human Rights measures which have hampered his plan to send migrants to Rwanda.

Opening his speech to the council, the PM urged leaders to "do more to co-operate" on stopping boats crossing the Channel, adding: "The council already plays a vital role but I urge leaders to consider how we can go further."

But Iceland's foreign affairs minister Thordis Kolbrun Gylfadottir suggested migration was not top of the agenda, warning: "This summit doesn't have a big focus on migration in general."

The Government’s controversial Illegal Migration Bill, which if passed would see everyone who arrives by small boats detained and deported, is working its way through Parliament.

The legislation has already been backed by a majority of MPs but faces stiff opposition in the Lords - some of whom have vowed to torpedo the plan.

An ECHR judge blocked a deportation flight to Rwanda last June, minutes before it was due to take off for the capital Kigali from the Ministry of Defence airfield at Boscombe Down.

The deal to send migrants to the east African country is currently being examined by British courts.

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