Britain and France to speed up efforts to tackle small boat crossings

British interior minister James Cleverly and his French counterpart Gerald Darmanin on Tuesday agreed to accelerate the deployment of aerial surveillance equipment aimed at reducing the number of migrants crossing to Britain in small boats.

In recent years tens of thousands of migrants have sought to reach Britain from France's north coast, making dangerous and sometimes fatal attempts to navigate one of the world's busiest shipping lanes in small rubber dinghies.

The influx of migrants has become a major political issue for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who has pledged to "Stop the Boats", and pushed him to develop plans - currently mired in legal disputes - to deter migrants by sending them to Rwanda.

A statement issued by the British government after the latest talks in Paris said:

"The Home Secretary (Cleverly) and Interior Minister Darmanin welcomed plans to accelerate delivery of the March 2023 UK-France Summit agreement.

"(France and the UK) will also continue calling for a UK-EU agreement on migration issues so as to better manage illegal as well as legal migration," Darmanin said in the statement released by Cleverly's office.