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UK and France strike new £662m small boats deal
The deal adds conditional payments, more officers and new surveillance as both governments seek to disrupt smuggling networks and reduce arrivals.
- On Wednesday, the United Kingdom and France finalized a three-year, £662 million border security agreement to curb illegal Channel crossings, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood set to sign the deal.
- This arrangement replaces a 2023 funding deal that expired earlier this year, as Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces political pressure to reduce immigration following record-high crossing figures in 2025.
- Under the new pact, the United Kingdom will fund nearly 1,100 personnel, including riot-trained units and maritime officers, with approximately £160 million contingent on measurable French results.
- The Refugee Council stated ministers were "treating the symptom, not the cause," while Conservative MPs accused the government of handing over taxpayer funds without sufficient conditions.
- France will deploy advanced surveillance systems including drones and helicopters, with the agreement aiming to increase law enforcement presence to 1,400 officers by 2029.
115 Articles
115 Articles
A new agreement concluded for three years commits London to pay £662 million in Paris to strengthen control of the French coast of the English Channel. But in a context of budgetary tensions in the United Kingdom, some of the payments have been conditioned to resultsFrance and the United Kingdom will have dragged several months before finding a new agreement on their management of irregular crossings of the English Channel. But the agreement on …
Tens of thousands of people attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain every year. Now the British government has concluded a new agreement with France and intends to provide more than 760 million euros.
U.K. and French governments sign a 3-year deal to curb migrant crossings in English Channel
Under the agreement, the U.K. will provide $675 million to strengthen measures in northern France, with an additional $216 million depending on the success of new tactics to curb Channel crossings.
Freedom from Torture slams 'UK-funded brutality' over Channel policing plans
Keir Starmer’s grotesque, Reform-pandering, allegedly Labour government has plumbed fresh depths with its latest scheme to deter refugees. The Channel policing plan will see the UK hand over £662m to France in return for it beefing up border security. The BBC‘s reporting actually tones down the language of the government’s own press release. The briefing, from the Border Security and Asylum section of the Communications Directorate uses language…
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