A detention centre for Channel migrants will finally be built in France three years after it was first promised – but it will only have 140 spaces. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the French government had agreed to detain small boat migrants on the beaches, transfer them to the new centre and then deport them.
Background of the Agreement
The deal was first mooted by then Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak under a previous agreement with Emmanuel Macron's government in March 2023. The new facility in Dunkirk, paid for by the British taxpayer, will have a capacity of 140 migrants. However, more than 6,000 have successfully reached Britain so far this year, including 602 on a single day last week.
Home Office Statement
The Home Office said the new scheme would 'aim to remove hundreds of small boat migrants from French beaches every year'. It remains unclear whether detaining and deporting such a small proportion of migrants will deter others from attempting the dangerous crossing. The centre, staffed by more than 100 officers, is expected to open by the end of this year.
Trials and Focus Nationalities
Meanwhile, the Home Office said the new approach will be 'trialled using existing capacity' at a removal centre in Coquelles, near Calais, from next month. French police will focus removals on the 10 nationalities which cross the Channel illegally in the greatest numbers. They are Eritreans, Afghans, Iranians, Sudanese, Somalis, Ethiopians, Iraqis, Syrians, Vietnamese and Yemenis.
A Home Office spokesman said: 'Migrants will be deported back to their home countries or other EU countries they have passed through.' As part of a £160million 'payment by results' deal between Britain and France, announced yesterday, funding will be withdrawn from the scheme at a later date if it proves unsuccessful.
Home Secretary's Comments
Home Secretary Ms Mahmood said: 'This Government is bearing down on illegal small boat crossings. Under this new agreement, we will remove those with no right to be here before they attempt to cross the Channel – starting this year. We will restore order and control to our borders.'
Financial Details
Labour yesterday announced it will hand France up to £660million for small boat patrols and other measures as part of a new three-year deal. It will push the total amount of British taxpayers' money given to France since the start of the Channel crisis past £1.3billion. Since the previous three-year, £500million deal was agreed by Mr Sunak and Mr Macron more than 84,000 migrants have reached Britain across the Channel. Since Labour came to power nearly 71,000 migrants have reached the UK by small boat.
Policy Context
One of Sir Keir Starmer's first acts as Prime Minister was to scrap the previous government's Rwanda asylum deal, which was designed to deter crossings and save lives by removing Channel migrants to east Africa. The Home Office's own figures, published last year, showed Rwanda was deterring crossings even though removals flights never got off the ground. Earlier this year Ms Mahmood admitted her flagship 'one in, one out' deal with France, launched last summer, has 'obviously not dented the numbers yet'. More migrants have been brought to the UK under the reciprocal terms of the treaty than have been removed.
Voluntary Return Scheme
The Home Secretary has refused to reveal how many failed asylum seekers families have accepted up to £40,000 to voluntarily leave Britain under another of her schemes. It offers £10,000 per head up to a maximum of £40,000, plus air tickets home. Most failed asylum seeker families offered the cash are living in migrant hotels at an average cost of £158,000 a year per family, and Ms Mahmood insists the hand-outs will save the taxpayer in the long-run.
