World News for Students of English

14-03-2023 07:00

Relations between France and Britain had been strained by Britain’s departure from the EU; however, on Friday, the two allies took a major step to end years of bickering in the post-Brexit era.

Britain will pay France around 577 million dollars over three years to try to stop migrants traveling in small boats across the Channel. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping small boats a priority since he started in office in October. The number of migrants arriving on the south coast of England soared to more than 45,000 last year, up to 500% in the last two years.

Sunak proposed new legislation to bar people arriving in small boats from claiming asylum; however, he needs France’s cooperation to intercept the boats and break the people trafficking rings behind the flow of arrivals from Afghanistan, Iran, Syria, and others. As part of the new deal, Britain will help fund a detention center in Paris while France will deploy more French personnel and enhanced technology to patrol its beaches.

Difficult words: bicker (to argue about unimportant things), intercept (to stop someone before that person can reach a particular place), traffic (to trade in something illegal).

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