The Prime Minister is due to discuss border security with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this week as Sir Keir Starmer called illegal migration “a global problem”.
Writing in the Sunday Express newspaper, Sir Keir said Mr Merz’s visit to the UK will include talks on “what more we can do together to prosecute criminal networks and prevent people smuggling to the UK”.
“The networks of these criminal gangs stretch across countless countries and legal systems, showing no respect for our borders,” he added.
“We’ll go further to tackle this shared issue together.”
According to the Home Office, 353 people crossed the English Channel by small boat on Friday, just a day after the Prime Minister signed a deal with French President Emmanuel Macron aimed at deterring migrants from making the perilous journey.
This was down from the 573 people who crossed on Thursday, the first time any such journeys were made in a week.
More crossings were witnessed on Saturday, but the full figures are yet to be published.
Border force vessels and the RNLI were called out on both Thursday and Friday to reports of multiple boats crossing the channel, the Coastguard said.
A statement from the Coastguard said: “HM Coastguard has been co-ordinating a response to multiple incidents involving small boats in the Channel on 10 and 11 July.
“UK Border Force and RNLI vessels have been sent as part of this response.”
Under the terms of the deal agreed by the Prime Minister and Mr Macron, the UK will be able to send migrants back to France for the first time in exchange for asylum seekers with links to Britain.
The so-called one in, one out deal is due to begin in weeks on a pilot basis, but needs final legal verification from the EU.
Downing Street has indicated ministers expect the EU to support the arrangement, amid concerns among some European governments that migrants who have travelled to Britain could end up back on their territory.
No details have been given about how many people will be covered by the pilot, but French officials had indicated it could initially be limited to about 50 a week, a small fraction of the weekly average this year of 782.
Sir Keir wrote: “This is what serious, practical solutions to global problems look like.
“We will do our duty as a compassionate country, accepting genuine asylum seekers who respect our rules and our way of life. That is fair.
“But people who try to make the crossing illegally will soon find themselves back where they started. That is a real deterrent.”
At least 21,000 people have already made the journey since January, putting 2025 on course to be a record year for crossings.
