The UK will fund a new migrant detention center in France as part of a $577 million three-year agreement with France that aims to reduce the number of people crossing the Channel on boats and entering the UK illegally.

Details of the agreement between the two countries were revealed as UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron held a joint press conference to outline renewed co-operation on a host of areas, including migration, war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. 

The UK will pay France that colossal sum in three instalments: $150 million (2023-24), $203.5 million (2024-25) and $222.7 million (2025-26). For the current financial year the UK will pay France $77m.

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The money will also be used to deploy 'hundreds of extra French law enforcement officers' with a "new, highly trained, permanent French mobile policing unit dedicated to tackling small boats," said Sunak.

Enhanced technology to patrol beaches, meaning drones, aircraft, surveillance technology will also boost the countries' efforts to clamp down on illegal migration.

In 2022, around 45,000 people entered the UK illegally, up from 300 in 2018. The UK has already spent around $360 million supporting France's efforts to reduce illegal migration, but Sunak is confident extra funding and a collaborative approach will have an impact.

He said: "We don't need to manage this problem, we need to break it. And today, we have gone further than ever before to put an end to this disgusting trade in human life. Working together, the UK and France will ensure that nobody can exploit our systems with impunity."

But when asked whether migrants who do cross the Channel could be returned to France, Macron firmly stated that that wasn't part of the agreement. 

Sunak and Macron also used the press conference to address the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Macron said "Russia must not win this war" and vowed to continue arming Ukraine with the firepower it needs to defend its territory.

The energy crisis is another issue that binds both countries, with Sunak admitting that "citizens are paying the price" for the conflict through increased energy prices. 

But he said "good progress" has been made by both countries to diversify their energy supplies.

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