Asylum Seekers Undeterred by UK-France Plan to Send Back Migrants

Tens of thousands of asylum seekers are set to risk their lives attempting to cross the English Channel to the UK, despite a recent deal between the UK and France to send back migrants who arrive on small boats. The agreement, signed by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron, aims to deter people from making the perilous journey by offering a "one in, one out" scheme. However, many migrants are skeptical of the plan and remain determined to find a way to cross the Channel.

Key Takeaways:

• Nearly 28,000 people have crossed from France to the UK on small boats this year, with 2025 on track to exceed the previous record from three years ago.
• Separate official data published on Thursday showed a record 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK during Starmer's first year in office, an 8% increase on 2022's previous peak.
• The average number of people on a single vessel has risen to 63 over the past two months, up from 55 in the same period last year and below 30 in 2021.
• Smuggling gangs are maximizing profits by cramming migrants into boats in greater numbers and dispatching boats from more distant points on the coast.
• The tougher UK approach has come amid several shifts on the French side, including a fall in the price of a place on a small boat to the UK, which could be attributed to the larger number of people being placed on boats or a greater number of smuggling gangs competing with one another.
• Six people in the camps said they had committed to paying between PS800 and PS1,500 per person, a sum placed in a special account by family members overseas to be released on the arrival of their relatives in the UK.
• Critic Martin Hewitt said one of his aims was to drive up the price of small boat crossings until they no longer viable for most. However, if this is correct, the gangs appear not to have yet passed it on to passengers.
• Roughly half of those in the camps had been declined asylum by other European countries, said Angele Vettorello, co-ordinator for migrant support charity Utopia 56.
• The UK leaving the EU has meant it is no longer part of the Dublin Agreement, which allows member states to refuse asylum to those already rejected by another country in the bloc.

Statistics:

• 28,000 asylum seekers have crossed from France to the UK on small boats this year.
• 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK during Starmer's first year in office, an 8% increase on 2022's previous peak.
• 63 people on average are on a single vessel over the past two months.
• 55 people were on average on a single vessel in the same period last year.
• 30 people were on average on a single vessel in 2021.
• 85 migrants were reported dead or missing in the Channel last year, almost double the previous record of 50 in 2019.
• The price of a place on a small boat to the UK has fallen to between PS800 and PS1,500 per person.

Sources:

• UK government data
• Financial Times analysis of Home Office data
• EU data
• Utopia 56 charity
• BBC website
• Financial Times article