UK, France agree 3-year deal to curb Channel crossings

Louis Oelofse

Paris: The United Kingdom and France have agreed on a new three-year deal to curb undocumented migrant crossings in the English Channel.

Under the agreement, France will step up patrols along its coast, increasing the number of officers by more than 50% to 1,400 by 2029, while the UK will provide up to €766 million ($897 million) in funding.

Almost a quarter of the money will be paid only if the measures prove effective.

The UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez were expected to sign the three-year agreement in France on Thursday.

The agreement renews the Sandhurst Treaty, as London presses Paris to do more to stop the dangerous crossings.

Around 41,000 people crossed the Channel from France to the UK in small boats in 2025, the highest number since large-scale crossings were first detected in 2018.

This has prompted criticism from the UK that France was doing too little to prevent undocumented migrants from setting off from French shores, with smugglers and migrants taking ever-greater risks to avoid detection.

French officials say arrivals in the UK have fallen by half since the start of 2026 compared with the same period last year, and that about 480 smugglers were arrested in 2025.

The British government said joint work with France had already halted more than 42,000 attempted crossings since July 2024.