Britain and France signed a new agreement to try to stop illegal migration across the Channel on Saturday, upping patrols and technology in the hope of closing off a dangerous route used by migrants to try to reach the UK on small boats.

A Kurdish-Iranian family - including two children aged nine and six - died when a boat sank off the coast of France on October 27. Their 15-month-old son was reported missing. Photo: VCG

UK interior minister Priti Patel said that under the deal, the number of officers patrolling French beaches would double, and new equipment including drones and radar would be employed.

In 2020, hundreds of people, including some children, have been caught crossing to southern England from makeshift camps in northern France - navigating one of the world's busiest shipping routes in overloaded rubber dinghies. Some migrants have drowned.

Patel said in statement that the agreement represented a step forward in the pair's mission to make channel crossings unviable. "Thanks to more police patrols on French beaches and enhanced intelligence sharing between our security and law enforcement agencies, we are already seeing fewer migrants leaving French beaches," she said.

The UK and France plan to continue a close dialogue to reduce migratory pressures at the shared border in 2021, she added.

Patel told UK media that French authorities had stopped 5,000 migrants from traveling to the UK so far in 2020. 

She said that over the last ten years, the UK had given France 150 million pounds ($200 million) to tackle immigration. 

Britain is also planning to introduce a new asylum system through legislation in 2021.