The UK and France have further deepened their small boats
cooperation with the signing of the Upstream Working Group
Roadmap yesterday (6 March) at the Ministry of Interior.
The UK's Border Security Commander, Martin Hewitt, and France's
Special Representative on Immigration for the Minister of State,
Patrick Stefanini, met in Paris to agree stronger measures,
focussing on stemming irregular migration flows into both France
and the UK.
The signing follows the Home Secretary's visit to the Northern
French coast last week where she met with French Minister of the
Interior, Bruno Retailleau, to agree a series of new, stronger
enforcement measures.
The Franco-British Upstream Working Group marks a significant
step in ongoing efforts to combat organised immigration crime.
The roadmap has 4 priority issues:
- disrupting the criminal gangs at the heart of organised
immigration crime
- deterring illegal migrants from taking the dangerous journey
to France and the UK
- ensuring the effective and prompt return of irregular
migrants to source and transit countries
- tackling the root causes of irregular migration
The 2 co-chairs welcomed British and French joint efforts and set
a date for the next Upstream Working Group plenary meeting, due
to take place in May 2025.
Border Security Commander, Martin Hewitt, said:
When I first took on my role as Border Security Commander, one of
my key priorities was to strengthen our work with partners across
the world to tackle the criminal networks facilitating illegal
migration to the UK.
In just a few short months, we have fundamentally enhanced our
international cooperation, but it is our close cooperation with
French partners that remains, as ever, the cornerstone to
stopping the gangs and preventing loss of life.
Beyond France, the Border Security Command has deepened
coordination with law enforcement to smash the criminal people
smuggling gangs, securing vital agreements with other
international partners including Germany, Western Balkan
nations and Iraq.
