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Britain, France in Pact to Stop Illegal Migrant Crossings


FILE - Migrants sit onboard a boat in the English Channel as they attempt to cross Aug. 27, 2020.
FILE - Migrants sit onboard a boat in the English Channel as they attempt to cross Aug. 27, 2020.

Britain and France on Saturday signed an agreement aimed at ending illegal migration across the English Channel.

Starting Dec. 1, patrols on French beaches will be doubled, and technology, including drones and radar, will be used detect the would-be migrant crossings, British Home Secretary Priti Patel said.

Patel said the agreement would help the two countries “make channel crossings completely unviable."

She said in the past 10 years Britain had given France nearly $200 million to tackle immigration.

More than 6,000 people tried to cross the Channel from Jan. 1 through August of this year.

French authorities have said that in September they had intercepted more than 1,300 people attempting to reach Britain.

Seven people have died so far this year trying to cross to Britain, and four died last year.

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