The UK has signalled that it seeks to renew a migration deal with France which is set to expire next week. The government is reportedly seeking "long-term value for money" as it seeks to renew the accord.
Britain says it wants to renew a migration deal with France, which was signed for three years in March 2023.
Under its terms, the UK had agreed to pay the French authorities the equivalent of around 540 million euros over the course of three years to help crack down on migrants attempting to cross the English Channel in small boats.
The deal was struck by the previous government, which was run by the Conservative Party and announced at the time that the funds would finance the deployment of hundreds of additional law enforcement officers on French shores, while also paying for the creation of a new detention center in France.
The terms of the agreement also focused on increasing the use of surveillance technology and in Northern France stopping migrants from embarking on dangerous journeys across the Channel.
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The Labour government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer, which has been in office for close to two years, announced that it would like to renew the deal — despite being otherwise openly critical of the bulk of the previous government's initiatives to control irregular migration.
Starmer's government meanwhile has struck a series of other deals with various European governments — in particular France — in an attempt to stop migrant boats from reaching British soil; these include the divisive "one in, one out" deal signed last year, which is designed to disincentivize irregular crossings to Britain across the Channel and also to weaken the business model of illegal smuggling gangs.
Since Britain's departure from the European Union in 2020 (known commonly as "Brexit"), the UK has been forced to strike direct deals with European governments to work together on limiting immigration, and is no longer covered by the EU's comprehensive immigration and asylum laws.
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The prime minister's official spokesman said on Tuesday (March 24) that talks to renew the deal "continue", without clarifying any detail on the timeline on when they might conclude or whether there might be amendments and additions to the deal that is being discussed.
"We're building flexibility and innovation into any new deal with the French to ensure there's long-term value for money and a real impact on small boat crossings," he told reporters.
Talks to renew the deal started last summer during the 37th UK-France Summit.
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English Channel: Near-record arrivals in 2025
Starmer's government is under immense pressure to push down the number of arrivals on Britain's southern shores, as the issue of immigration has become a political crunchpoint in the country, pushing Britain increasingly towards the far-right. WIth local elections due in May, the Labour government is keen to try and demonstrate it is 'winning' in the matter.
Nearly 41,500 migrants managed to cross the English Channel to the UK in small boats last year, according to Home Office figures, marking a 13 percent increase compared to 2024.
2025 saw the second-highest annual total of irregular migrant boat arrivals on record, second only to 2022, when almost 45,800 arrivals were recorded.
The number of irregular arrivals on British shores so far in 2026 remains surprisingly low; however, with temperature warming up with the onset of spring, it is expected that the number of attempts to cross the English Channel could increase once more.
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