London, Nov 28, 2020, SPA -- Britain and France signed an agreement today, on Saturday to beef up the police presence in the English Channel in a bid to stop more migrants from illegally making the crossing, dpa repoted. Twice as many police will be deployed on the French coast to detect migrants at sea, according to an agreement signed by British Home Secretary Priti Patel and her French counterpart Gerald Darmanin. Surveillance equipment such as drones and radar will also be deployed in ports and coastal regions. It was unclear how many more officers would be deployed along the British coastline. More than 8,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel to Britain this year alone, up from 2,000 the year before, according to the British Press Association news agency. Often they undertake the journey on small, unsafe rubber dinghies and people regularly drown in the attempt. Conservative hardliner Patel wants to significantly tighten the rules for legal migration to Britain in the future. The Detention Action charity sharply criticized the action. The organization's director, Bella Sankey, said there was an urgent need to create safe and legal routes for migration instead. --SPA 23:13 LOCAL TIME 20:13 GMT 0020 www.spa.gov.sa/w1458706