UK Commits £662 Million to France for Enhanced English Channel Migrant Enforcement

French authorities returned all migrants from the six stopped boats to France and sentenced five smugglers to prison and deportation. Shabana Mahmood said: 'Our work with the French has stopped tens of thousands of illegal migrants boarding boats headed to Britain. But we must do more.

' Chris Philp said: 'The government's deal hands over half a billion pounds of our money with no conditions at all. France only prevented a third of embarkations last year and even let those illegal immigrants go to try again.

Robert Jenrick said last month that the UK needed 'a sovereign deterrent' and called for the government to 'detain and deport every single illegal migrant who comes into our country'. On Saturday, 602 migrants arrived in Dover on nine boats. The total number of arrivals by small boat in 2026 so far is more than 6,000.

Channel crossings have increased over the past three years, with 41,472 people arriving in the UK by small boat in 2025. The UK paid £476 million to France under the previous deal signed in 2023 for extra patrols to disrupt migrant smuggling gangs. The previous arrangement involved around 700 law enforcement officers patrolling beaches in France and was expected to expire next month.

In August 2025, the Labour government signed a 'one-in-one-out' deal with France allowing the UK to return some small boat arrivals to France while admitting an equivalent number of migrants from France who have not attempted to come to the UK. As of February 2026, 305 people had been returned to France and 367 people had arrived in the UK under the one-in-one-out scheme.

Nearly 60,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals have been removed or deported from the UK since the government took office.