Team Blitz India
THE government has agreed on a working arrangement with Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, which is the latest step in UK’s plan to tackle illegal migration and criminal gangs, according to a Home Office communique.
As the EU’s Border and Coast Guard Agency, Frontex has unparalleled insight into illegal migration and cross-border crime on the European continent, it said, adding that cooperation in the short term could include working together on areas like analysing migratory flows across Europe or combatting document fraud, with a view to expanding the work done together in the longer term.
This long-term framework will provide the UK with access to new levers and intelligence to make the UK and EU’s borders safer and more secure.
The new working arrangement, said the Home Office, will push forward PM Rishi Sunak’s priority to stop the boats and drive down illegal migration. The UK has been making strong progress, with the number of small boat crossings down by 46 per cent last year with 36 per cent fewer individuals arriving by small boats, and returning more than 24,000 people who have no right to be in the UK, the statement added.
The working arrangement will deliver across a range of areas, including enhancing both sides’ operational response to illegal migration and organised immigration crime. It provides the basis for mutually beneficial cooperation.
The UK’s multi-faceted response to illegal migration has led to the creation of the Small Boats Operational Command to put a stop to all uncontrolled beach landings.
The UK’s legacy asylum backlog was cleared by the end of 2023 and immigration enforcement was significantly strengthened with a 70 per cent increase in illegal working raids, according to the statement.
