The UK isn’t sharing enough information with France to reduce small boat Channel crossings, according to a French report.
The Home Office has dismissed the report as "out-of-date".
The Court of Accounts, a body responsible for monitoring the use of French public funds, says Paris is “struggling to develop operational cooperation” with the UK.
The report claims that British authorities provide “very general, first-level information” to French police and that France needs more details about the boats and engines being used by criminal gangs.
France's Court of Accounts says Paris is 'struggling to develop operational cooperation' with the UK
GBNEWS/REUTERS
It says: "Concerning the ways in which the migrants are arriving, the references or serial numbers of boats or engines, and the nationalities, the information seems very fragmented”.
The Court suggests that as a result, the relationship between France and the UK is “unbalanced” in terms of sharing information and intelligence.
The Ministry of Defence estimates that small boats Channel crossing increased by at least 58 per cent between 2021 and 2022, a year that saw over 45,000 migrants arriving on British shores. Monitoring of numbers crossing illegally has since been taken over by the Home Office.
The Government announced this week that the number of migrants crossing fell by 36 per cent in 2023, to just under 30,000.
Last year saw the second-highest number of crossings on record
GB NewsThe Home Office claims that a further 26,000 “of these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossing attempts were prevented in 2023 thanks to our partnership with France.”
Between 2018 to 2022, the UK gave France nearly £200 million as part of a deal to stop crossings. And last March, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged an extra £500 million over the next three years.
At the same time UK’s National Crime Agency has increased efforts to tackle people smuggling gangs based the UK and Europe. The NCA says British officers are now working on the French coast alongside local police.
A Home Office spokesperson said: "This report is based on out-of-date information and does not accurately reflect our current working relationship, including intelligence sharing, with France.
"In the last two years, we have taken more robust action alongside them to crack down on vile people smuggling gangs and stop the boats.
“We continue to work closely with French partners at all levels, helping to drive forward improvements in the prevention of crossing attempts, both on the beaches and long before they reach them."