France Admits Failure on Migrant Crossings and May Send Them Back to UK
France’s top border official has finally admitted what many in the UK have suspected for a while—France needs to do more to stop the surge in small boat crossings. With migrant arrivals hitting record highs, French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau has acknowledged that his country needs to step up its efforts and may even consider sending migrants back to the UK as a way of sending a clear message: don’t risk your life making the dangerous journey.
Retailleau told The Sun: “We have to deal with the crossings,” and admitted that French authorities are currently only intervening to rescue people at sea, not to stop them from setting off in the first place. He added: “I’ve seen a number of videos where the taxi boats come close to the coast to pick up the migrants in water that’s not very deep, and I think that our gendarmes cannot intervene.”
It’s a striking admission, especially after a string of incidents where French forces have been accused of standing by or even assisting. One particularly shocking moment came last month when French authorities refused to act as a dangerously overcrowded boat carrying 60 migrants drifted through their waters. Instead of intervening, they called UK Border Force and escorted the vessel across the Channel. One witness described it as “a complete taxi service”.
Retailleau also floated the idea of a bilateral deal with Britain, admitting that many migrants who arrive in the UK “don’t come back”. He pointed to other countries like Belgium and Germany cracking down harder on smuggling networks, suggesting France could take a similar approach.
Meanwhile, the numbers continue to climb. According to the Home Office, 6,000 migrants have already arrived in the UK so far in 2025. March alone saw 4,586 people make the perilous journey, the highest number ever recorded in the first six months of any year.
Sir Keir Starmer, for his part, has called on more than 40 countries to come together and take on the smuggling gangs fuelling this crisis. At an immigration summit held in London this week, he stressed the need to act, saying the current system gives asylum seekers “false hope” and that “there’s nothing progressive or compassionate about turning a blind eye”.
But not everyone is impressed with the government’s handling of the crisis. Border Security Commander Martin Hewitt’s statement that his aim is to “halve arrivals” hasn’t gone down well with critics. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp called the pledge “defeatist nonsense”, while Reform UK’s Lee Anderson didn’t mince his words either, saying: “Martin Hewitt is a pathetic excuse for a Border Security Commander. He was hired to do a job but has now pledged to do only half of it.”
With crossings continuing and political pressure mounting, it seems both sides of the Channel are finally being forced to admit that the current approach just isn’t working.
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