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The UK will pay 200 French officers to detain and deport people seeking asylum from some of the world's most oppressive and war-torn regimes, under a new deal between the UK and France which aims to reduce Channel crossings.
In what is being described as the first time the French government has agreed to target those coming to the UK in small boats, a departure point at Dunkirk will be used to hold people from 10 countries: Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria, Vietnam and Yemen. The Home Office said they were the top 10 nationalities crossing the Channel in small boats last year.
They would be stopped by officers paid by the UK and deported to their countries of origin or other EU countries they had passed through, officials said. Funding for this would come from a £162m package to test new approaches to preventing small boat crossings, which is in addition to a new £500m three-year framework agreement with the French to step up enforcement action on beaches in northern France.
The detention and deportation approach is part of an additional £162m "pay-for-results" package, on top of the £500m base deal agreed for the next three years until March 2029.
Officials say hundreds, possibly thousands, of people will be detained under the targeting scheme. However, EU countries, including France, have previously struggled to deport people to neighbouring countries under the Dublin agreement. Jo Cobley, executive director of Safe Passage International, said it was shameful and illegal to deport people to unsafe places.
“ Without safe routes accessible and the government’s suspension of refugee family reunification, the only way to reach the UK to seek protection is across the Channel, punishing people with detention, threats of deportation and police violence does not change that. It is shameful and unlawful to return people to active war zones or where they face persecution, in places like Afghanistan, Sudan and Iran, and to target people who are most likely to have received protection in the UK ,” she said.
Interior Ministry sources said French officials would give priority to people from those 10 countries because of UK concerns that they were fuelling the small boat crisis in the Channel. The sources said French access to the Eurodac database meant they could quickly remove people who had passed through a third EU country.
Officials said the site at Dunkirk, which has a capacity of 140 people, was expected to be operational by the end of 2026. First promised by Rishi Sunak's government in 2023, the site is still under construction, with none of the buildings yet completed. The approach of targeting people by nationality will be tested using existing capacity at a nearby removal centre in Coquelles starting next month.
Investment in the new detention centre will come from the £162m flexible, results-based fund. If it is not delivering value for money and proven results in the first year, funding will be withdrawn from the scheme.
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