The UK will help fund a detention centre in France to try and stop migrants from crossing the Channel, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and President Emmanuel Macron have announced.

The new centre will support French efforts to increase detention capacity, allowing more migrants who might otherwise travel by dangerous and illegal routes to the UK to be removed from the French coast, the prime minister’s office said.

The new package will also see the deployment of more French personnel and enhanced technology to patrol beaches, they added.

PM suggests European countries will copy UK’s tough migration approach – politics latest

Other measures include:

  • Additional drones, aircraft and surveillance technologies
  • A new 24/7 coordination centre with permanent UK liaison officers
  • Increased cooperation between the National Crime Agency and its French counterpart

A spokesperson for the prime minister said: “For the first time, the UK will help fund a detention centre in France to enhance the country’s ability to cope with the level of people being trafficked across the Channel.

“This new centre will support French efforts to increase detention capacity, allowing more migrants who might otherwise travel by dangerous and illegal routes to the UK to be removed from the French coast.”

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French President Emmanuel Macron said: “We do have a geography that binds us, and that’s why I’d say this summit has been exceptional.”

Mr Sunak has held talks in Paris with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron aimed at bolstering efforts to tackle the small boats crisis.

More than 3,000 people have already made the perilous sea journey this year, with almost 46,000 arriving by unofficial routes in 2022.

Earlier in the week, the Tory government unveiled controversial plans to curb Channel crossings would see refugees arriving by boats detained, removed and banned for life from claiming asylum in the UK.