France migrant return scheme numbers ‘not fixed’, says Home Secretary

Yvette Cooper has declined to say how many migrants would be returned under a new deal with France aimed at stopping small boat crossings in the Channel.

The Home Secretary said the pilot scheme announced by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron on Thursday did not have “fixed” numbers and would be introduced “in a steady way”.

But she insisted it would “fundamentally undermine” the people smugglers organising the crossings, who had previously been able to tell would-be migrants that they could not be returned to Europe once they arrived in the UK.

The one in, one out migrant return scheme set out by the Prime Minister and Mr Macron is due to begin within weeks, but still needs final legal verification and consultation with the European Union.

Ms Cooper said ministers expected the EU to be “supportive” of the scheme after engagement with European governments and commissioners in Brussels since October last year.

Under the pilot scheme, for each small boat migrant sent back across the English Channel an asylum seeker will be allowed to enter the UK from France under a legal route.

No details have been given about how many people will be covered by the pilot, but reports from France have indicated it could initially be limited to about 50 a week – a small fraction of the weekly average this year of 782.

The deal was welcomed by the Immigration Services Union’s Lucy Moreton, who told the BBC it was “a really good start”, but added the numbers meant it was “only scratching a very bare minimum of the surface”.

But others have been more critical, with refugee charities condemning the focus on deterrence and calling for the creation of more safe routes, while Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the scheme was “a gimmick” that would not work.

Meanwhile, crossings continued in the Channel on Friday, with a Border Force vessel and a lifeboat seen bringing people into Dover early that morning.

At least 21,000 people have already made the journey since January, putting 2025 on course to be a record year for crossings.

The returns scheme will be accompanied by a crackdown on illegal working in the UK as the Government attempts to address the “pull factors” encouraging people to attempt the crossing from France.

The Home Office said authorities would soon undertake “a major nationwide blitz targeting illegal working hotspots, focusing on the gig economy and migrants working as delivery riders”.

Deliveroo, Uber Eats and Just Eat have already committed to ramp up facial verification and fraud checks over the coming months after being called in for talks with ministers.

Mr Macron has repeatedly stressed the need for the UK to avoid attracting migrants, saying “you should not underestimate the impact the situation has” in parts of northern France around Calais and Dunkirk.

He said a third of illegal migrants entering Europe’s Schengen border-free area sought to eventually reach the UK, and welcomed measures to tackle illegal work.

During his visit to the UK he also highlighted the need for measures “addressing pull factors”.

Sir Keir said the “completely unprecedented” scale of the crackdown on illegal working would mean for cross-Channel migrants that “the jobs they have been promised in the UK will no longer exist”.

Published: 11/07/2025 by Radio NewsHub