The British government has signed a new migration agreement with Vietnam aimed at expediting the return of irregular migrants by up to fourfold, the UK Home Office announced yesterday (Wednesday, October 29).  

Under the deal, which the UK touted as "the strongest the Vietnamese government has ever agreed with another country," the government will be able to expedite the return of irregular migrants by reducing the processing time for migrant documentation by up to 75 percent, in cases with supporting evidence. Once the full measures are in place, the government anticipates up to a 90 percent reduction in processing time.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer signed the deal with To Lam, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam, on Wednesday evening.

"We are cutting through red tape, accelerating removals, and dismantling the criminal networks that profit from illegal migration. This deal delivers on our promise to protect our borders and cut down on migration," Starmer said in a statement.

Four times faster

Under the agreement, both countries will intensify intelligence sharing to target networks involved in facilitating illegal migration. Additionally, public messaging campaigns targeted to discourage potential irregular migrants from traveling to the UK will be launched. The combination of measures, the Government said could potentially allow the number of Vietnamese nationals returned to increase by fourfold.

Additionally, the UK and Vietnam governments signed a strategic partnership underlining further collaboration in the areas of defense, security, trade, and climate.

The UK Government said the agreement with Vietnam is part of a wider strategy of international partnerships aimed at managing irregular migration and fast-tracking legal returns of individuals. The UK has entered into similar agreements with France and countries in the Western Balkans.

Under the Starmer administration, an estimated 35,000 individuals with no legal right to remain were removed, including 5,200 foreign national offenders. This number represented a 14 percent increase compared to the previous year. 

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Irregular arrivals from Vietnam 

UK government data from April 2024 showed Vietnamese nationals made up 20 percent of all small boat arrivals, a tenfold increase compared to the same period in the previous year. 

British media reports at the time cited Vietnamese nationals as representing the largest community crossing the Channel. 

More recent data indicate that the number of Vietnamese nationals arriving by small boat has since decreased. From January to June 2025, the number of Vietnamese nationals entering the country was recorded to be 1,026, which is fewer than half the number arriving in the same period of 2024.  

The UK government attributed the decrease in the number of irregular arrivals to "showing that working with international partners can deliver results." 

Read AlsoUK channel crossings surge by 25% in 2024

Turning loopholes into migration paths

Experts and humanitarian organizations working at the frontlines of irregular arrivals attribute the recent increase in Vietnamese migrants entering Europe to a mix of economic, political, and logistical factors.

Humanitarian organizations in northern France, such as Osmose 62, have reported an unexpected rise in Vietnamese migrants along the coast. Volunteers described the individuals as young men and women, often better financed than other migrant groups who are seeking work opportunities in the UK. When crossings fail, many reportedly simply try again by returning to staging areas, indicating access to resources uncommon among other asylum seekers. 

Investigations into trafficking networks reveal that Vietnamese migrants often pay up to 20,000 euros for the crossing, reportedly facilitated by Franco-British criminal groups. These smuggling groups house them and find them work after their arrival.

Others enter Europe legally at first, often using two-year Hungarian visas. In these cases, corruption reportedly plays a role. Some irregular migrants reported obtaining Hungarian visas by paying thousands of euros to embassy intermediaries.

One major reason is the tightening of traditional migration routes to the United Kingdom. Post-Brexit regulations have made it much harder for migrants to hide in trucks passing through the Channel Tunnel, making small boat crossing an alternative

Human trafficking experts said that since trade between the UK and continental Europe has declined since Brexit, fewer trucks are available to smuggle in people by land.

Read AlsoBehind the surge in Vietnamese Channel crossings to the UK

Deadly smuggling route

In 2023, a UK court sentenced Romanian national Marius Mihai Draghici to over 12 years in prison for manslaughter and conspiracy to assist unlawful immigration in relation to the deaths of 39 Vietnamese migrants who suffocated in a truck trailer en route to England in 2019.

In a tragedy that drew international outrage, the victims, aged 15 to 44, died after being trapped in an airtight container, later discovered at an industrial park near London. 

Draghici was reportedly a key member of an international human smuggling network. Draghici fled the UK after the incident but was arrested in Romania in 2022 and extradited to face trial. He was the fifth person sentenced in the UK over the case, which remains one of the most tragic incidents of human smuggling to date.

Read AlsoVietnamese victim paid 34,000 euros to be smuggled to UK