The first migrants to cross the English Channel since the UK signed a new agreement with France to curb small boat arrivals were brought ashore in Dover on Saturday. A group of more than a dozen people, including women and children, were pictured being taken into the Border Security Command compound after being collected in the Channel.
Details of the new agreement
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood signed a three-year deal with France on Thursday, under which the UK will pay £662 million to support beach patrols and other enforcement activities on the French coast. The Home Office said the arrangement would see officers “targeting and detaining” migrants on French beaches, with the aim of removing hundreds of small boat migrants from the shore each year and preventing them from entering the water.
The payment is structured in two parts. An initial £501 million will cover five police units and related enforcement activity on French beaches. An additional £160 million will be paid only if new tactics to reduce Channel crossings prove successful. The Home Office confirmed that this extra funding will stop after a year if the efforts fail. However, ministers have declined to set specific targets by which the success of the deal would be measured.
Crossings continue despite decline
According to Press Association analysis of Government figures, more than 6,000 migrants have arrived in the UK via the Channel so far this year. That represents a 36 per cent decrease compared with the same period in 2024.
