PARIS: France and the UK on Monday signed a new agreement to work together to stop migrants crossing the Channel to England in small boats, a source of huge bilateral tension.
Under the agreement, Britain will pay France $74.5 million (72.2 million euros) in 2022-2023 so that Paris can increase by 40 percent the numbers of security forces patrolling its northern beaches, the French interior ministry said.
This means some 350 additional members of the French security forces will be patrolling following the deal, signed in Paris by French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin and British counterpart Suella Braverman.
London and Paris also pledged to use technological and human resources on the French coast to better detect, monitor and intercept boats.
They want to collect and use information, in particular from intercepted migrants, to better dismantle smuggling networks and deter crossings.
For the first time, teams of observers will be deployed on both sides of the Channel to “strengthen common understanding,” improve the debriefings of migrants and increase exchanges of information.
The deal comes after the UK government said on Sunday that more than 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to Britain so far this year, a new record.
The provisional total for this year stands at 40,885, most of them Albanians, Iranians and Afghans — well in excess of last year’s 28,561, the Ministry of Defense said.
The agreement reflected a new atmosphere in ties between the France and the UK since British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took the helm, after years of acrimony under his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Migration has been a particular bone of contention with London accusing Paris of not doing enough to stop migrants crossing the Channel, charges fiercely rejected by French officials.
Sunak and President Emmanuel Macron held a cordial first meeting last week on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Egypt and will meet again this week at the G20 in Indonesia.
They plan to hold a bilateral summit meeting focused on defense in early 2023.
On Saturday, some 972 people were detected making the perilous crossing in 22 boats, the UK government said.
The figures have been rising for years. Some 299 were detected making the crossing in 2018; 1,843 in 2019; and 8,466 in 2020, according to the UK.
The rising numbers have caused a logjam in asylum claims and increased accommodation costs estimated by the UK government at $7.8 million (£6.8 million) a day, straining local services and fueling public anger.
But refugee rights groups accuse the government of a callous and chaotic approach, after unsanitary conditions developed at one overcrowded asylum processing center in Manston, southeast England.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and British counterpart James Cleverly had in a joint statement on Friday “stressed the urgency of tackling all forms of illegal migration including small boats crossings and addressing their root causes.
ants and increase exchanges of information.
The deal comes after the UK government said on Sunday that more than 40,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to Britain so far this year, a new record.
The provisional total for this year stands at 40,885, most of them Albanians, Iranians and Afghans — well in excess of last year’s 28,561, the Ministry of Defense said.
The agreement reflected a new atmosphere in ties between the France and the UK since British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak took the helm, after years of acrimony under his predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.
Migration has been a particular bone of contention with London accusing Paris of not doing enough to stop migrants crossing the Channel, charges fiercely rejected by French officials.
Sunak and President Emmanuel Macron held a cordial first meeting last week on the sidelines of the UN climate summit in Egypt and will meet again this week at the G20 in Indonesia.
They plan to hold a bilateral summit meeting focused on defense in early 2023.
On Saturday, some 972 people were detected making the perilous crossing in 22 boats, the UK government said.
The figures have been rising for years. Some 299 were detected making the crossing in 2018; 1,843 in 2019; and 8,466 in 2020, according to the UK.
The rising numbers have caused a logjam in asylum claims and increased accommodation costs estimated by the UK government at $7.8 million (£6.8 million) a day, straining local services and fueling public anger.
But refugee rights groups accuse the government of a callous and chaotic approach, after unsanitary conditions developed at one overcrowded asylum processing center in Manston, southeast England.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna and British counterpart James Cleverly had in a joint statement on Friday “stressed the urgency of tackling all forms of illegal migration including small boats crossings and addressing their root causes.
France, UK sign new deal on thwarting migrant Channel crossings
https://arab.news/grurr
France, UK sign new deal on thwarting migrant Channel crossings
- Migration has been a particular bone of contention with London accusing Paris of not doing enough to stop migrants crossing the Channel
Russia diverts its naphtha from Oman due to Middle Eastern crisis, data shows
- Strikes have disrupted energy production and shipping, including naphtha loadings and discharges
- Since the European Union’s full embargo on Russian oil products took effect in February 2023, most Russian naphtha has been directed to the Middle East and Asia
MOSCOW: Russia has diverted its naphtha cargoes from Oman amid the Middle East crisis as it looks for new buyers, traders said and LSEG data showed, with at least one tanker now heading for Singapore.
Iran’s strikes on Gulf countries in retaliation for Israeli and US strikes against it have disrupted energy production and shipping, including naphtha loadings and discharges.
Since the European Union’s full embargo on Russian oil products took effect in February 2023, most Russian naphtha has been directed to the Middle East and Asia.
Middle Eastern countries are also the top supplier to Asia with the recent disruption forcing Asia’s naphtha margin to four-year highs, while at least one South Korean naphtha cracker operator was considering declaring force majeure and another has cut its operating rate by around a fifth.
The Liberia-flagged tanker, Amfitrion, which loaded in February in the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiysk destined for Oman, last week halted navigation near the Gulf of Masira and on Tuesday turned for Singapore, according to LSEG data.
Five middle-sized tankers carrying a total 180,000 metric tons of naphtha in January departed Russian ports for an offshore STS (ship-to-ship) berth near Oman’s Shinas, shipping data showed. The final destination of these cargoes remains unknown.
According to data from LSEG and traders, Russia also sent two cargoes to Oman’s Sohar in November-December, carrying a total of 190,000 tons of naphtha as its other markets dried up.
India and Taiwan were among the main Asian buyers of Russian naphtha, but recent US sanctions have prompted both countries to pull back. Exports to Venezuela have also fallen to zero this year after US President Donald Trump in December ordered a blockade on all sanctioned oil tankers entering or leaving the Latin American country.
Though Asian buyers face naphtha shortages, Western sanctions could force traders to shun Russian cargoes. The long navigation from Russia’s Baltic ports to Asia also prevents prompt shipments, market sources said.
