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The British and French governments are discussing immigration repayment agreements that involve one person being deported from the UK in exchange for France sending another individual to another.
British and French officials have early discussions about a pilot scheme in which a small number of irregular migrants come across a British channel to the UK are sent back to France.
British officials said the UK is aiming to accept a limited number of migrants from France who have the right to be in the UK, especially those who have filed legitimate lawsuits for family unity.
France is willing to test such a scheme despite its long-standing preference for EU-wide arrangements.
Before he came to power, Sir Kiel Starmer said he aims to reach a return contract with the EU, but that such a transaction has not yet been realized.
The priority wants to convince voters that they plan to tackle irregular migration to the UK and have a plan to “break the gang” involved in transporting asylum seekers across channels on small boats to avoid the election threat posed by the populist reform British party.
“We are discussing early on the plan to bring back to France in exchange for accepting others, in line with what we discussed about prioritizing family reunions,” a British official said.
A spokesperson for the UK home office said, “We are strengthening our cooperation with France and other European countries facing the same challenges by exploring fresh and innovative measures to dismantle the business model of criminal smuggling gangs.”
The French Home Office confirmed that the country is in negotiations with the UK on an agreement to reclaim irregular migrants that have crossed the channel.
“The interest in France is to discourage immigration (and smuggling networks) from trying to arrive from France to the UK.”
The ministry added that there is ambition for the project to be extended to a wider EU-wide scheme.
“This is a pilot scheme that predicts future European agreements that France strongly supports,” it said.
“It is based on a one-on-one principle: with each legal admission under family unity, there will be a corresponding readmission of undocumented immigrants who could cross. [the Channel]. ”
The small boat intersection across the channel is on record levels, with around 8,200 people travelling to the UK since the beginning of the year, compared to the same period in 2024.
The number of small boat arrivals increased by 25% in 2024 to over 37,000 people.
EU officials warned that extending the UK and France’s potential pilot schemes across the bloc is likely to face a significant obstacle, as many countries don’t want to regain the immigration they’ve rejected, especially with anti-immigration sentiment rising among some voters.
One EU diplomat said Franco Britt’s argument was “preliminary” and “it’s too early to speculate about the potential involvement of others. [EU] Member States.”
Before Brexit, the UK was the EU’s Dublin Regulation Party, under which people should be dealt with for the asylum of the country that first entered the bloc.
However, many EU countries with the first entries for immigration, such as Italy, do not apply Dublin’s rules.
The UK and France already have a broad border management partnership called the Touquet Agreement. The UK has agreed to pay France about 540 million euros between 2023 and 2026 in exchange for more intense police surveillance on the channel.
France was able to hire more executives, patrol more frequently, and increase surveillance, including drones.
Advocacy groups criticize approaches that are difficult to put people trying to cross the channel at risk.
France and the UK are beginning to work closer together, with British security staff serving as observers in French command centres around Curry.
Despite close cooperation, France has long rejected certain British requests, such as patrols in France and handling French asylum requests on behalf of the UK.
