France gears up to stop illegal immigrants crossing through English Channel

France has laid out an action plan to check illegal migrants from crossing through the English Channel, French Interior Ministry has said.

"Actions have been taken to step up coordination between agencies, increase surveillance in ports, raise awareness among coast guards, and fight human traffickers," Sputnik quoted French Interior Minister Christophe Castaner as saying on Friday.

In the past a few years, illegal migration through the English Channel, which is a narrow arm of the Atlantic Ocean separating the southern coast of England from the northern coast of France, has increased manifold. In 2018, French Coast Guards reportedly detained 228 people for trying to cross the English Channel illegally.

Meanwhile, Britain has deployed HMS Mersey in the Strait of Dover to prevent the inflow of illegal migrants to the UK through the English Channel.

In order to secure the borders, France and the United Kingdom (UK) also signed a new deal last year under which the UK agreed to pay more to France for stopping migrants trying to reach British shores.