Britain and France have agreed to push forward their controversial Channel crossing scheme by several more months, with the arrangement now set to run until October 1 rather than ending as planned on June 11.
The deal, which The Guardian first reported, was originally struck last July when Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron described it as a landmark agreement. Under the arrangement, one asylum seeker who reaches Britain by small boat is sent back to France in exchange for one person already in France being brought to the UK through legal routes.
Since the scheme launched, 605 people have been returned to France and 581 have entered the UK through the legal pathway, according to Home Office figures. Channel crossings this year are down roughly a third compared with the same period last year, though officials accept that unusually windy weather has played a part in keeping boats off the water.
The extension comes despite the deal failing to halt small boat crossings altogether. Smuggling networks have shifted tactics, launching more boats from Belgium and moving towards lorry-based journeys at higher prices to avoid French beach patrols.
Asylum seekers who have lived through the scheme described the extension as deeply troubling. One person who was returned to France told The Guardian the decision would not achieve its stated goal. Another man who was detained under the scheme before being released to have his claim heard in the UK said people sent back to France were disappearing without trace, particularly those previously fingerprinted in Bulgaria who feared being transferred there.
Griff Ferris, a spokesperson for the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, called the arrangement state-sanctioned human trafficking and urged the government and airlines involved to stop the deportations.
A Home Office spokesperson said the government had removed more than 600 people under the agreement, adding that nearly 60,000 removals had taken place since July 2024, which is 31 per cent higher than the 19 months before that.
