Riot police to deploy on French beaches under new deal to stop illegal Channel migrant crossings

The 2023 arrangement, which saw around 700 law enforcement officers patrolling beaches in France, was expected to expire in May 2026.

The Conservatives and Reform UK criticised the deal as sending half a billion pounds with no conditions; Liberal Democrats urged a large-scale returns agreement; the Refugee Council warned policing alone won’t deter desperate migrants. The government said nearly 60,000 illegal migrants and foreign criminals had been removed or deported from the UK since taking office.

Riot-trained police will be sent to beaches in northern France as part of the new deal. France will deploy drones and two new helicopters, and install a new camera system to track smugglers and migrants. The package includes nearly 1,100 law enforcement, intelligence and military officers in northern France, plus the supply of a new vessel and more than 20 additional maritime officers. Funding includes £501m for beach enforcement, with an additional £160m if the new tactics curb crossings, and the UK’s contribution totals £662m; up to £100m of UK funding could be redirected after one year if crossings do not fall significantly.

On Saturday, 602 migrants arrived in Dover on nine boats, bringing the 2026 total to more than 6,000 arrivals.

In the last two months, French authorities are said to have stopped six migrant boats. They returned all migrants to France and five smugglers were sentenced to prison and deportation.

As of February 2026, 305 people had been returned to France and 367 people had arrived in the UK under the one-in-one-out scheme.

In August 2025, the Labour government signed a separate 'one-in-one-out' deal with France, allowing the UK to return some small boat arrivals to France while admitting an equivalent number of migrants from France who have not attempted to come to the UK.

Crossings in the Channel increased over the past three years, with 41,472 people arriving in the UK by small boat in 2025.

Under the previous deal signed in 2023, the UK paid £476m to France for extra patrols to disrupt migrant smuggling gangs and to patrol beaches in northern France; the arrangement involved around 700 law enforcement officers and was expected to expire in May 2026.