British Border Force officers patrol French beaches for the first time trends now
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The first migrants to cross the Channel this year arrived in Dover today - as it emerged Border Force officers have begun patrolling French beaches for the first time.
Pictures showed a Border Force cutter sailing into Dover marina before migrants wearing life jackets came ashore.
The first joint UK-French patrol took place just before Christmas after months of negotiations between officials from both countries.
The co-operative effort aims to grant UK officers greater real-time intelligence of people-smuggling activity, tactics and migrant movements.
Pictures showed a Border Force cutter sailing into Dover marina this morning
Migrants wearing life jackets were then seen disembarking the boat for processing
However the UK officers embedded in the French patrols are 'observers' only, meaning they will have no rights to exercise powers such as arresting someone for a criminal act, the Telegraph reported.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) confirmed a record 45,756 migrants crossed the Channel to the UK in 2022.
The last crossings of the year took place on Christmas Day when 90 people made the journey from France in two boats.
The provisional annual total for 2022 is a
