UK and France agree to send some migrants arriving in Britain by boat back to France
UNITED KINGDOM, JUL 10 – The UK will deport 2,600 undocumented migrants annually to France under a pilot scheme while accepting an equal number of verified asylum seekers through legal routes, officials said.
- On July 10, 2025, during a joint event in London, the UK Prime Minister and the President of France announced a new agreement to return migrants arriving in the UK via small boats back to France.
- The deal follows nearly 20,000 Channel crossings in the first half of 2025, an increase of almost 50% from 2024, and reflects recognition that stopping boats requires international cooperation.
- The agreement establishes a pilot scheme returning around 50 migrants weekly to France in exchange for the UK accepting a matching number of asylum seekers via a controlled safe route.
- Starmer stated that the policy will demonstrate that attempts to enter the UK via small boats will be unsuccessful and result in detention and repatriation, while also emphasizing support for genuine asylum seekers and implementing a robust crackdown on illegal employment across the country.
- Although hailed as a diplomatic milestone, critics question the pilot’s limited scale and its ability to deter crossings, noting success depends on reducing attempt numbers and breaking smuggling gangs’ business model.
240 Articles
240 Articles
As the Jean-Jaurès Foundation's study of the "third left" from London to Copenhagen shows, many socialist and labour forces have evolved their doctrine to meet the expectations of the popular electorate in terms of immigration and security. An ideological turning point that the French left has, for the time being, decided to ignore. Will this blindness last?
'Historic migrant return deal shows Labour is replacing chaos with control'
Writing for The Mirror, Border Security and Asylum Minister Dame Angela Eagle says Labour is finally replacing chaos with control, after a groundbreaking returns deal was agreed with France
Sydney Morning Herald
The Age‘Fifty people a week’: Fury on both sides of English Channel over migration deal
A deal to stem the flow of asylum seekers from Europe to Britain has been dismissed as too weak, amid forecasts that up to 40,000 people could arrive in the UK this year.
The announcement of the new Franco-British strategy on migration between the two nations does not convince local actors or humanitarian associations.
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- 41% of the sources lean Left
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