UK and France to agree migrant return deal to tackle Channel crossings – reports

The UK and France are expected to announce a one in, one out migrant returns deal to crack down on English Channel crossings, it has been reported.

Plans for a pilot could be revealed next week, which marks one year since Sir Keir Starmer’s Government came to power, or later in the summer, according to the Times.

The deal could see migrants who arrive in the UK by crossing the English Channel in small boats returned to France, while the UK would accept those with legitimate claims to join family already in the country.

It comes as the Government has vowed to crack down on people smuggling gangs across the Channel, while crossings are at a record high for this point in the year, totalling 18,518.

Strengthening relationships

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has been leading the talks, the paper added, who is credited with strengthening relationships with French counterparts.

French officials have also agreed to changes that would allow police patrolling the coast to take action in the sea when migrants climb into boats from the water.

Under the new returns deal, a joint processing system between the UK and France would be set up to identify migrants who have a valid claim for family reunification in the UK, the Times reported.

For each person accepted to come to the UK, a migrant would be returned to France and relocated across the country away from its northern coastline where crossings take place.

“Migrant merry-go-round”

But reacting to the reports, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said: “We pay the French half a billion pounds to wave the boats off from Calais, and in return we get a migrant merry-go-round where the same number still come here.

“The French are failing to stop the boats at sea, failing to return them like the Belgians do, and now instead of demanding real enforcement, Labour are trying a ‘one in, one out’ gimmick.”