New Delhi, April 24 -- The U.K. and French governments signed a new multimillion-euro deal on Thursday aimed at reducing the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, with increased police patrols and enhanced surveillance in northern France.

U.K. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez formally endorsed the three-year agreement during a joint visit to the Dunkirk region.

Mahmood praised the new deal as providing "the right mix of skills and capabilities that we know will work on the beaches in order to reduce the crossings."

Nuñez said that it will help in "combating illegal immigration networks, human trafficking networks, which are obviously extremely harmful."

Under...