Latest news with #UKFranceSummit
Arab News
10-07-2025
- Politics
- Arab News
Britain and France try again to tackle English Channel migrant crossings
LONDON: After the bonhomie and banquets of a formal state visit, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron are turning to a topic that has stymied successive British and French governments: how to stop migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats. At a UK-France summit on Thursday that caps Macron's three-day stay, senior officials from the two countries will try to seal deals on economic growth, defense cooperation and – perhaps trickiest of all – unauthorized migration. Macron and Starmer also will visit a military base and dial in to a planning meeting of the ' coalition of the willing, ' a UK- and France-backed plan for an international force to guarantee a future ceasefire in Ukraine. During a meeting inside 10 Downing St. on Wednesday, the two leaders agreed that tackling small boat crossings 'is a shared priority that requires shared solutions, including a new deterrent to break the business model' of people-smuggling gangs, Starmer's office said. It said they would aim for 'concrete progress' on Thursday. Channel crossings are a longstanding challenge Britain receives fewer asylum-seekers than Mediterranean European countries, but sees thousands of very visible arrivals each year as migrants cross the 20-mile (32 kilometer) channel from northern France in small, overcrowded boats. About 37,000 people were detected crossing the channel in 2024, and more than 20,000 made the crossing in the first six months of 2025, up by about 50 percent from the same period last year. Dozens of people have died trying to reach the English coast. Britain and France agree the dangerous and unregulated crossings are a problem, but have long differed on how to address it. The UK wants France to do more to stop boats leaving the beaches, and has paid the Paris government hundreds of millions of pounds (dollars, euros) to increase patrols and share intelligence in an attempt to disrupt the smuggling gangs. 'We share information to a much greater extent than was the case before,' Starmer told lawmakers in the House of Commons on Wednesday. 'We've got a new specialist intelligence unit in Dunkirk and we're the first government to persuade the French to review their laws and tactics on the north coast to take more effective action.' Macron says Britain must address 'pull factors' like the perception it is easy for unauthorized migrants to find work in the UK Many migrants also want to reach Britain because they have friends or family there, or because they speak English. Solutions have proved elusive As far back as 2001, the two countries were discussing ways to stop migrants stowing away on trains and trucks using the tunnel under the channel. Over the following years, French authorities cleared out camps near Calais where thousands of migrants gathered before trying to reach Britain. Beefed up security sharply reduced the number of vehicle stowaways, but from about 2018 people-smugglers offered migrants a new route by sea. 'You see that pattern again and again, where smuggling gangs and migrants try to find new ways to cross from France to the UK,' said Mihnea Cuibus, a researcher at the University of Oxford's Migration Observatory. 'The authorities crack down on that, and then gradually you see migrants and gangs try to adapt to that. And it becomes a bit of a game of cat and mouse.' Cooperation on stopping the boats stalled after Britain's acrimonious split from the European Union in 2020, but in the past few years the countries have struck several agreements that saw the UK pay France to increase police and drone patrols of the coast. Britain's previous Conservative government came up with a contentious plan in 2022 to deport asylum-seekers arriving by boat to Rwanda. Critics called it unworkable and unethical, and it was scrapped by Starmer soon after he took office in July 2024. Britain hopes for a returns deal with France Starmer is staking success on closer cooperation with France and with countries further up the migrants' routes from Africa and the Middle East. British officials have been pushing for French police to intervene more forcefully to stop boats once they have left the shore, and welcomed the sight of officers slashing rubber dinghies with knives in recent days. France is also considering a UK proposal for a 'one-in, one-out' deal that would see France take back some migrants who reached Britain, in return for the UK accepting migrants seeking to join relatives in Britain. Macron said the leaders would aim for 'tangible results' on an issue that's 'a burden for our two countries.' Cuibus said irregular cross-channel migration would likely always be a challenge, but that the measures being discussed by Britain and France could make an impact, 'if they're implemented in the right way. 'But that's a big if,' he said.
Sky News
08-07-2025
- Politics
- Sky News
UK and France have 'shared responsibility' to tackle illegal migration, Emmanuel Macron says
Emmanuel Macron has said the UK and France have a "shared responsibility" to tackle the "burden" of illegal migration, as he urged co-operation between London and Paris ahead of a crunch summit later this week. Addressing parliament in the Palace of Westminster on Tuesday, the French president said the UK-France summit would bring "cooperation and tangible results" regarding the small boats crisis in the Channel. It comes as the UK prepares to host the UK-France summit on Thursday, where Sir Keir Starmer will hope to reach a deal with his French counterpart on a "one in, one out" migrant returns deal. Please refresh the page for the latest version.
The Independent
05-07-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Starmer and Macron hope for ‘progress' on defence and migration at summit
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have said they hope to make 'good progress' on issues including migration and defence when they meet next week, Number 10 has said. The two leaders will hold a summit when the French President travels to the UK for a state visit next week, with the two leaders speaking on Saturday ahead of Mr Macron's journey. Issuing a readout of the conversation between the Prime Minister and Mr Macron, a Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir 'looked forward to welcoming the President to the UK next week, with both leaders agreeing that the state visit will provide a historic opportunity to showcase the breadth of the UK-France relationship. 'Turning to the UK-France summit on Thursday, they hoped to make good progress across a wide range of our joint priorities including migration, growth, defence and security.' The two leaders are also due to host a meeting of the coalition of the willing while Mr Macron is in Britain, with the two leaders expected to dial in to speak to other allied nations who are looking to support any future peace deal in Ukraine. There have been extensive talks between the two nations on migration, and the summit comes as the UK has been repeatedly pushing the French authorities to do more to prevent small boats from crossing the Channel. The number of people who have arrived in the UK by small boat passed 20,000 earlier this week. Downing Street welcomed action from French officers on Friday, after reports suggested knives had been used to puncture a boat in waters off the French coast. A Number 10 spokesman said: 'We welcome action from French law enforcement to take action in shallow waters, and what you have seen in recent weeks is a toughening of their approach.' Existing rules have been changed to allow police officers to intervene when dinghies are in the water. Those alterations have not yet come into effect, but reports on Friday suggested tougher action was already being taken.
Yahoo
05-07-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Starmer and Macron hope for ‘progress' on defence and migration at summit
Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron have said they hope to make 'good progress' on issues including migration and defence when they meet next week, Number 10 has said. The two leaders will hold a summit when the French President travels to the UK for a state visit next week, with the two leaders speaking on Saturday ahead of Mr Macron's journey. Issuing a readout of the conversation between the Prime Minister and Mr Macron, a Downing Street spokesperson said Sir Keir 'looked forward to welcoming the President to the UK next week, with both leaders agreeing that the state visit will provide a historic opportunity to showcase the breadth of the UK-France relationship. 'Turning to the UK-France summit on Thursday, they hoped to make good progress across a wide range of our joint priorities including migration, growth, defence and security.' The two leaders are also due to host a meeting of the coalition of the willing while Mr Macron is in Britain, with the two leaders expected to dial in to speak to other allied nations who are looking to support any future peace deal in Ukraine. There have been extensive talks between the two nations on migration, and the summit comes as the UK has been repeatedly pushing the French authorities to do more to prevent small boats from crossing the Channel. The number of people who have arrived in the UK by small boat passed 20,000 earlier this week. Downing Street welcomed action from French officers on Friday, after reports suggested knives had been used to puncture a boat in waters off the French coast. A Number 10 spokesman said: 'We welcome action from French law enforcement to take action in shallow waters, and what you have seen in recent weeks is a toughening of their approach.' Existing rules have been changed to allow police officers to intervene when dinghies are in the water. Those alterations have not yet come into effect, but reports on Friday suggested tougher action was already being taken.
Times
20-06-2025
- Politics
- Times
Starmer urged to consider one-in, one-out migrant exchange scheme
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to use next month's UK-France summit to strike a one-in, one-out migrant returns deal. A report by the Migration Policy Institute, a global immigration think tank based in Washington DC, has set out detailed proposals for France and the UK to pursue before the summit. It proposes setting up a series of hubs across France which would screen asylum seekers for eligibility for the UK. Under the plans, France would take back one small boat migrant for each asylum seeker resettled to the UK from the hubs. It would be modelled on the United States' Safe Mobility Offices scheme, which was introduced by the Biden administration in 2023 across countries in South and Central America to screen migrants for asylum before they are exploited by people smugglers and trafficked across borders. It helped individuals find support and access a wide range of services in Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala and was credited with a reduction in illegal migration from the countries. In April France opened the door to taking back Channel migrants for the first time after Bruno Retailleau, the French interior minister, said that it would 'send a clear message' to others planning to make the journey. • Chaos on a French beach as police try to stop migrants His comments have raised hopes among officials and ministers in the UK government that a breakthrough is possible after failed attempts by successive UK governments to persuade France to agree to take back migrants who have crossed the Channel in small boats. More than 100 migrants are estimated to have crossed the Channel on Thursday, taking the total number of arrivals over the last nine days to more than 2,500. A total of 17,278 have arrived so far this year, up 50 per cent compared with last year. Downing Street admitted earlier this week that the situation in the Channel was 'deteriorating'. The Migration Policy Institute report proposes that the hubs in France would prioritise individuals with connections in Britain and those from countries with high asylum grant rates such as Sudan, which has a 98 per cent acceptance rate, and Eritrea, which has an 86 per cent grant rate. It recommends starting with a pilot programme that would exchange one migrant back to France for each asylum seeker going the other way following successful screening. The programme should operate with a monthly quota that is linked to the numbers returned to France from the UK. • How small boats crisis is linked to rise in rough sleeping The think tank said that the scheme would provide predictable admissions numbers that the UK government could communicate clearly to the public and would regain control of its borders. The report suggests using artificial intelligence to help support processing migrants' applications at the hubs. It argues that such a system would strengthen the deterrent effect of a returns agreement between the two countries because it would provide a viable and safe alternative to smuggler-facilitated crossings for a segment of the population most at risk of making such journeys. It would also reduce the danger of migrant journeys for the most vulnerable migrants who are most likely to be granted asylum, thereby saving lives. The detailed report also recommends creating a bilateral digital screening pilot that would mirror the EU's Eurodac scheme, which shares the fingerprints and other details of asylum seekers. • French police tear-gas child migrants trying to board dinghy This Eurodac-lite scheme would enable British border officials to check the biometrics of arrivals in the UK against the Eurodac system and thereby facilitate re-admissions from the UK to France. French liaison officers could be stationed at UK intake sites with secure tablets granting read‑only access to Eurodac data. The report said that combining re-admissions with a viable legal alternative held the best chance of curtailing the pull factors for these crossings. The UK-France summit, to be held on July 8-10, is also expected to rubber stamp new French police tactics allowing officers to intercept migrant boats up to 300 metres into the water. However, Care4Calais, the charity that led the successful legal challenge against the Rwanda policy, has said it is considering legal action against the plans. The Migration Policy Institute also proposes that France and the UK operate shared charter flights to reduce the possibility of secondary attempts to cross the Channel. Insufficient flight capacity is one of the major obstacles for France's attempts to deport migrants, according to the report.
