More than 36,800 migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far in 2025, overtaking last year’s total and piling pressure on a new UK-France deal meant to stop the journeys.
Migrants still set off daily from the beaches of northern France, where hundreds of people gather and wait for a chance to reach Britain.
The deal signed in July was meant to discourage crossings through a “one-for-one” system – for every migrant returned to France, another would be legally accepted into Britain.
Yet the flow has continued to rise, prompting doubts about whether the plan can deliver the results ministers expected.
Deal a failure?
Only 42 migrants have been sent back to France under the deal, while 23 have received visas to move legally to the UK. Nigel Farage, leader of far-right Reform UK, has called the plan a total failure.
One Iranian migrant who was returned to France managed to cross the Channel again a few days later.
Criticism is rising in northern France as well. Guy Allemand, mayor of Sangatte near Calais, told RFI the deal was “purely political” and “hypocritical”.
“This bilateral agreement does nothing to ensure the safety of migrants or to dismantle the smugglers’ networks,” he said. “It’s simply a political response to Nigel Farage – an agreement of appearances.
"When you look at the numbers returned compared with the tens of thousands of successful crossings, it’s insignificant. Migrants are not at all deterred.”
Humanitarian groups challenge UK-France migration deal in French court
Court ruling
France’s Conseil d’État, the country’s highest administrative court, is expected to rule soon on whether the agreement should stand. Around 17 NGOs have challenged the deal, saying that its principles are inhumane.
At least 27 people have reportedly died attempting the crossing since 1 January.
The deal’s troubles are playing out against the backdrop of camp clearances around Calais – scenes that have become part of the region’s daily life.
The pressures around the deal coincide with continued camp clearances near Calais. At the end of September, French authorities evacuated a camp in a disused warehouse on the city’s outskirts.
Known as Cheers, the site had housed up to 600 people in what officials described as degrading and dangerous conditions.
The Pas-de-Calais prefecture said the operation was calm and without incident, arguing the warehouse had become a hub for smuggling networks exploiting vulnerable migrants.
Aid groups and journalists who visited earlier this year reported dark, damp and overcrowded spaces, with piles of waste and makeshift bedding.
Around 170 residents accepted accommodation in regional reception centres, while others left for nearby woods and roadside camps.
