According to reports from the British newspapers 'The Independent' and 'The Guardian', the UK Labour Party's landmark immigration agreement with France is coming to an end. This agreement allows immigrants who arrive in Britain by boat to be deported back to Paris, France. In exchange, France will accept some asylum seekers.
This agreement signed in July 2025 is due to expire on October 1st. Negotiations to extend the agreement have failed. It is understood that although the plan is about to end, the detainees will still be flown to France within the next few weeks.
According to reports, France wishes to terminate the current arrangement and replace it with a system within the EU, where EU countries would share the burden of receiving a quota of migrants who are sent back to Europe.
British Home Secretary Sheeba Mahmood said this month that as of now, approximately 1400 people have been sent to France under this program, with the cost per person being £56,000. As of June, a total of 1117 people have been transferred from France to the UK in accordance with the agreement.
She confessed that the immigration plan is difficult to expand its execution scale, and the number of people involved remains "relatively limited."
She said: “A greater challenge at the practical level is transporting a large number of repatriation cases to France every week, which exceeds the capacity of the French system.”
She mentioned that some immigrants have given up crossing the English Channel, as they hope to get into the UK through this asylum application transfer scheme.
A source from the British government confirmed: "We originally hoped that the agreement would be extended. But even if it cannot be renewed, it is not a devastating blow, because the plan never achieved the scale necessary to effectively deter small boat smugglers."
This agreement was originally scheduled to expire in April, but has been postponed to October 1st. The purpose is to cope with the peak period of illegal crossings during summer.
Before Brexit, the EU implemented the Dublin Refugee Procedure. After Brexit, the UK attempted to continue the refugee repatriation mechanism, but this was rejected by the leaders of EU countries.
Regarding the view that a pan-European mechanism could solve the crisis of illegal crossings of the Strait, Shebaa Mahmoud does not agree. She said, “If it is believed that this pan-European convention will be the future, and that problems will disappear after joining it, then that is a major mistake. I can assure you that reality will not be like that.”
A senior French immigration official told The Daily Telegraph, “This agreement is over.” The source said, “President Macron’s position was clear. He expressed his stance during his meeting with British Prime Minister David Cameron. Everything has come to an end… France has always hoped this would be a European agreement, but as far as I know, other EU countries are not willing to agree.”
This plan was announced by former British Prime Minister Sturgeon and French President Macron in July 2025. The first repatriation flight took off in September of the same year.
At that time, Stamer described this agreement as “pioneering,” and said it would help curb the number of illegal crossings across the English Channel.
He said, “There is no one-size-fits-all solution. But if we work together, adopt new strategies, and show greater determination, we will eventually be able to turn the situation around.”
French Interior Minister Junetze once praised the plan as having a potential deterrent effect in June, but also stated that France would not bear this responsibility alone with Britain.
Nunez said during a parliamentary committee hearing: "Information from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees indicates that news of this plan is spreading, and many immigrants have given up their attempt to smuggle themselves across the border."
The value of this plan is clear to see. However, we believe France should not bear all the pressure alone and should be incorporated into the framework agreement between the EU and the UK.
Many immigrants who were deported to France under that agreement found themselves homeless in Paris. Others returned to refugee camps near Caen and Dunkerque, while some crossed the English Channel once more to return to Britain.
From January to September 27th this year, a total of 19,135 people crossed the English Channel from France by small boats and arrived in the UK. This number is 42% lower than the same period last year.
The UK National Crime Intelligence Service says that increased law enforcement efforts is a key factor in the decline in the number of people attempting to cross borders illegally. The agency stated that in the past year, up to April 2026, the number of arrests related to organized immigration crimes has increased by more than 55%.
Entry into the European Union's special border area for illegal immigration saw a decline in the volume of crossings, with the number of illegal immigrants apprehended decreasing by 35% compared to last year.
