UK, France extend Channel migration deal in last-minute agreement

BRITAIN and France agreed on Tuesday (31) to extend for two months a migration deal just hours before it was set to expire in order to complete tough negotiations, UK officials said.

Under a 2018 accord Britain agreed to finance actions taken in France to bolster the borders and stop migrants leaving for the UK.

The deal was prolonged for three years in March 2023, when London agreed to pay Paris £476 million over three years to crack down on migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats. It was due to expire at midnight on Tuesday.

"France and the UK are united in efforts to stop illegal small boat crossings," the Home Office said in a statement on Tuesday, adding some 42,000 illegal migrants had been stopped from making the risky Channel crossing to UK shores.

"While positive negotiations on finalising a new and improved UK-France deal continue, operational contracts have been extended to deliver key French law enforcement and surveillance capabilities for a further two months, backed by £16.2m in UK funding."

It said some 700 French officers "dedicated to intercepting small boats will patrol the French coastline round-the-clock".

"I will do whatever it takes to restore order and control at our borders," home secretary Shabana Mahmood said.

Almost 42,000 migrants landed on England's southern coast in 2025 -- the second-highest annual number since records were started in 2018, according to government figures.

The Labour government, which came to power in July 2024, is under pressure over the hot-button issue of immigration which has been seized on by the hard-right Reform UK party, which has been rising in the polls.

UK media has reported the UK government wants to link further financial contributions to France to higher goals for stopping the number of boats.

France has opposed the idea, warning such a move could endanger lives.

(AFP)