UK, France grapple with surge in migrant Channel crossings

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — Britain’s interior minister is meeting her French counterpart amid a surge in migrants trying to cross the English Channel in small smuggling boats. Thousands have landed on beaches in southeast England in recent days amid calm, summery weather. Britain says 785 migrants arrived on Monday alone. More than 12,000 have made the crossing this year. The British and French governments have worked for years to stop the journeys, without much success. A French lawmaker who represents the northern Calais region said authorities there were doing all they could but could not patrol the entire coastline and stop all departures. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said stopping the crossings depended largely on French authorities.