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UK border authorities said on Thursday that they had detained the first group of migrants illegally crossing the English Channel and will send them back to France under a new pilot scheme.
The migrants were detained on Wednesday, the day the plan came into force, and will be held at immigration removal centres until being returned to France.
“That sends a message to every migrant currently thinking of paying organised crime gangs to go to the UK that they will be risking their lives and throwing away their money if they get into a small boat,” British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said in a statement.
Under the scheme, France will accept the returned migrants in exchange for the UK taking in an equal number of asylum seekers who have family ties to Britain.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron announced the deal last month. Although limited in scope, UK officials hailed it as a breakthrough and said it sets a precedent that allows migrants arriving illegally to be sent back across the Channel.
However, critics say the programme will do little to deter migrants because the numbers returned to France are small and loopholes in the treaty will allow many people who enter the UK illegally to remain in the country as they pursue human rights claims.
Dangerous crossings have become a potent political issue in the UK. Over 21,000 people arrived in the country so far this year, a 56% increase from the same period in 2024.
Macron said the agreement was intended to have a deterrent effect.
“I’m totally committed to make it work, because this is clearly our willingness and our common interest,” he said.
Potential challenges to the programme include the extent to which the UK is willing to invest in policing small boats, possible legal challenges in France, and opposition from other European nations.
Discussions on halting irregular migration across the Channel date back decades. In the early 2000s, efforts focused on preventing stowaways from entering the UK through the Channel Tunnel in vehicles. Recently, smugglers have increasingly turned to sea routes.
The previous Conservative government’s controversial plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda was scrapped by Starmer shortly after he took office in July 2024.
Additional sources • AP
