Channel Crossing Curse: Will New Multi-Million UK-French Migrant Agreement Work This Time?

The UK and France are preparing to ink a new £50 million ($60 million) deal to tackle illegal Channel crossings and people smuggling schemes, according to The Telegraph. The newspaper noted, citing diplomatic sources, that British and French officials were working on a "multi-year" package.

The reported new grand design would be similar to the £54 million ($64.8 million) effort by the UK and France to crack down on people smugglers and stop the influx of illegals heading to Britain via the English Channel in small boats. The deal struck in July 2021 envisaged more patrols, surveillance, border security and asylum camps away from the northern French coast.

Nonetheless, last year's endeavor did not make any significant progress in tackling the smuggling, according to Peter Williams, a senior lecturer with the Liverpool Centre for Advanced Policing Studies at Liverpool John Moores University.

The July 2021 agreement between the UK and France started to fall apart at the seams in September 2021, when UK Home Secretary Priti Patel blocked payments demanding that France stop more migrants before they reached the British coast. In November 2021, tensions became even greater, with Paris denying that it had ever pledged to prevent "100% of crossings." The relations between the UK and France at that time were already poisoned by the spat of post-Brexit rules, fishing rights and red tape issues.

The latest agreement followed a thaw between Paris and London. According to The Telegraph, the National Crime Agency (NCA) stated that France had "stepped up" efforts to stop small boats. Five-nation police raids across Britain, France, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands managed to smash a gang responsible for smuggling thousands of immigrants into the UK.

One might wonder whether the latest migrant deal is a harbinger of change.

"Possibly as the Royal Navy are now leading on this, so can deploy more and better resources including electronic surveillance," Williams says. "I think the feeling on the British side was that the task was too big for the Border Force, hence the Navy taking over."

According to Williams, the UK and France potentially can work effectively on the Channel issue, especially if their military forces team up. However, the two countries' troops need to be "intelligence led" and the UK is out of Europol, who hold the key intelligence for smuggling gangs, he notes. The French will need to share information with the British and it will require new mechanisms.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's resignation will not make the problem any easier, according to the academic.

"Lack of continuity in political leadership will not help, although the governing party will not change," he says. "Another Home Secretary may have a different approach to Priti Patel who implemented this policy. However, the perceived problem won’t go away, so whoever is in post will need to address it."

Williams explains that trafficked persons have what is called "ambiguity of status" (victims/offenders) and up-until-now Priti Patel has dealt with them as potential offenders. However, another Home Secretary may see the human side and treat them as victims, which most people see them as, according to him. "It is the human trafficking gangs that are the organized crime groups here and they are not being tackled robustly enough," the academic notes.

In any event, London’s current migration policy is not effective, with BoJo's Rwanda policy being an attempt to reduce the "pull" factor, according to Williams. Change is needed and time will tell whether the new British leadership will tackle the Channel-crossing problem better than their predecessors.