A French gendarme stands next to people waiting for a bus to a refugee camp in Calais, north of … [+] France, on March 16, 2022. (Photo by Sameer Al-DOUMY / AFP) (Photo by SAMEER AL-DOUMY/AFP via Getty Images)
The U.K. Prime Minister has rejected calls from a group of French mayors to end U.K. border checks on the French side of the English Channel. The mayors are claiming the checks are one of the reasons for the dire situation on the French side, with large numbers of people living in poor conditions in camps along the coast. Dozens of people have died this year trying to cross the channel, and the U.K. government has prioritized cracking down on irregular migration.
For several decades, the U.K. border force has been allowed to operate on French soil, carrying out immigration checks before people cross to the U.K via the English Channel. The Channel has long been the focus of attention when it comes irregular migration to the U.K., with successive British governments pledging to crack down on the people crossing in small boats, although this method is only one of several ways people arrive in the U.K. irregularly.
Many people who attempt to travel to the U.K. in small boats initially gather around France’s northern coast, particularly the city of Calais and surrounding areas. This has led to groups of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of people gathering in informal camps while they get ready to try to cross.
Now, the mayors of various towns around the area are calling for the U.K. to take more control of immigration, and in particular stop border checks on the French side. The de facto leader of the group, Calais mayor Natacha Bouchart, has called for the U.K. to open up more legal immigration channels for people seeking shelter, so they do not need to try to cross the channel on small boats and the conditions found in the informal camps are alleviated. The mayors argue the current situation is ‘intolerable’ and that, in essence, the situation is created by the U.K.’s stance.
According to the U.K. government’s own figures, in the year ending June 2024, over 30,000 people crossed to the U.K. in small boats from France. Around 60 people have died attempting that crossing since the beginning of 2024.
A large portion of the people attempting to cross in this way are from countries such as Iran, Syria and Afghanistan where conflict and persecution are endemic. That is to say, most people crossing the channel come from situations that make their asylum applications highly credible, and in fact most people do eventually see their applications approved. Migration experts and advocates have for years pointed to this fact to argue for more legal channels for people to reach the U.K. to seek shelter, arguing in effect that by not allowing people with credible claims to reach British territory in a safe manner, the U.K. is creating the situation the French mayors are now decrying.
The U.K.’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer is rejecting the mayors’ calls, however, and said he will speak with French authorities to make sure the checks remain in place. Since coming to power in July, Starmer’s Labour government has adopted a tough stance against irregular migration. The government has diverted tens of millions of dollars in funding for a security-based approach to the issue, increasing patrolling and policing powers.