Unauthorised migration: UK-France border cooperation

There is a long history of cooperation between the UK and France over immigration controls at their shared borders.

Cooperation has been formalised through a series of bilateral agreements, including the Sangatte Protocol (1991), the Treaty of Le Touquet (2003), and the Sandhurst Treaty (2018).

Early agreements addressed security around the Channel Tunnel and ferry terminals and preventing people crossing the border by hiding in vehicles. Since 2019, cooperation has focused on small boat crossings. Small boats have been the predominant recorded method of irregular arrival in the UK since 2020. They accounted for 89% of detected irregular arrivals and around 40% of asylum claims in 2025.

A timeline of UK-French cooperation since 2014 is available to download as a supporting document to this briefing.

UK funding commitments

The UK has made a series of significant financial contributions to support France’s operational activity at the shared border. France and the UK jointly assess the effect of cooperation and funding through regular strategic reviews, but don’t publish the outcomes of these reviews.

2026 to 2029 three-year funding deal

The UK has agreed to provide £662 million (€767 million) to France between 2026/27 and 2028/29 under a new three-year funding agreement confirmed in late April 2026. £501 million will be used to strengthen existing controls in northern France. £161 million is available to fund new tactics.

The previous three-year deal, made in March 2023, had committed the UK to contributing €541 million (around £476 million at the time of the agreement).

Examples of cooperation Securitisation and law enforcement

The UK and France deploy resources to detect and disrupt movements of migrants, boats and engine parts, and to prevent them from coming together at the coastline. Law enforcement tactics include conducting checks at road and transport connections, using roadblocks and buoys in waterways, destroying boats near crossing points, and carrying out beach and coastal patrols. Law enforcement extensively uses surveillance technology including drones and thermal imaging cameras.

Actions to deter unauthorised migrants from travelling to coastal areas or staying in northern France include measures to prevent informal living areas being established, rolling eviction operations and a significant police presence in the area.

Judicial cooperation

The National Crime Agency has attributed “more than 300 arrests” and the “dismantling” of “at least” 52 organised immigration crime gangs operating in France to the work of the Joint Intelligence Cell, which was established by the UK and France in July 2020. It says many of the gangs were involved in organising small boat crossings.

Recent statistics on small boat arrivals

41,472 people arrived in the UK by small boat in 2025. That is the second-highest annual figure since records began, and a 13% increase on 2024 arrivals (36,816 people).

Analysis suggests that contributing factors included favourable weather and sea conditions, and an increase in the average number of people travelling in each boat (partly due to successful disruptions of supply chains and boat launches).

Fewer small boats and migrants have arrived so far in 2026 compared to the corresponding period in 2025. Border security officials believe the decline partly reflects the successful impact of measures across Europe to disrupt supply chains for small boat equipment.

Topical issues relating to UK-French cooperation Boat launches from Belgium

Since the start of 2026 there has been a significant increase in the number of migrant ‘taxi boats’ launched from Belgian beaches: 32 launch attempts were made between January and April, compared to two attempts in all of 2025. Some sources attribute this to a heavier police presence in northern France in recent months.

Belgian police try to intercept boats before they are launched. They conduct intelligence-led checks on vehicles on cross-border roads and use helicopters to survey beaches. Like France, they are unlikely to intervene once a boat is in the water unless people on board ask for help.

French police powers to intercept boats in the water

Since the start of 2026 French police have been implementing a new policy which authorises them to intercept and immobilise taxi boats in certain circumstances. At least six boats have been stopped in 2026 so far, resulting in five facilitators being sentenced to prison and deportation from France.

“One-in, one-out” pilot scheme

A “one-in, one-out” pilot scheme, introduced in August 2025, allows the UK to return some people who arrive by small boat to France while admitting an equivalent number of migrants from France who haven’t attempted an unauthorised journey to the UK. As of early March 2026, 377 people had been returned to France and 380 people had arrived in the UK under the scheme.

The government hopes that the scheme will undermine people smugglers by showing migrants that they may be returned to France if they make an unauthorised Channel crossing, and that there is an authorised route to the UK. However, many commentators question how much the pilot will affect overall trends because it only applies to a relatively small number of people.

What influences migrants’ decisions to come to the UK?

The UK and French governments have both suggested that the UK is a more attractive destination for some asylum seekers and unauthorised migrants compared with some other European countries because of its “more permissive” asylum system and illegal economy. To counter this perception, the government has announced measures to strengthen UK asylum and returns policy and is due to introduce primary legislation in the 26/27 session.

Research commissioned by the Home Office in 2022 said there was “insufficient evidence” that restrictive asylum policies in the UK affect how many asylum seekers come here. It found that the availability of rights and formal protection in other countries is “an important determinant” for whether asylum seekers already in Europe travel on to the UK. It said asylum seekers’ decision-making is complex and shouldn’t be attributed to simplistic ‘push-pull’ factors.

Migrants often describe being unable or unwilling to stay in other European countries because of legal or procedural barriers or negative experiences. They also cite reasons for wanting to come to the UK, such as family or cultural connections or positive perceptions of opportunities here.