France and the United Kingdom have found common ground to renew the Sandhurst Treaty for three years in order to combat illegal crossings of the Channel. Part of the British funding includes a “flexible” part, conditional on the effectiveness of the measures taken. The agreement also plans to increase by half the police forces dedicated to this mission.

Published on: 04/23/2026 - 01:18 Modified on: 04/23/2026 - 07:22

A new agreement to try to prevent illegal crossings of the Channel has been concluded between the French and British authorities. But the latter have made part of their funding dependent on the effectiveness of the measures put in place to retain candidates for exile.

After several months of tough negotiations, the two countries found common ground to renew the Sandhurst Treaty for the next three years. Signed in 2018, this bilateral agreement was renewed for the first time in 2023 and was due to end in 2026.

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"For the first time", the funding from the British authorities, which could go up to 766 million euros over three years, includes "a flexible part" estimated at 186 million euros, conditional on the effectiveness of the measures taken to prevent migrants from irregularly reaching their territory.

UK arrivals halved

Only 580 million euros are therefore guaranteed to be paid by London. This amount alone, however, already represents an increase, since the United Kingdom had contributed 540 million under the previous plan. If the new measures do not bring "sufficient results, on the basis of a joint annual evaluation, funding will be redirected to new actions", specifies the roadmap consulted by AFP.

According to official figures from the British authorities, 41,472 people reached the United Kingdom irregularly on small boats in 2025. This figure is the second highest since these crossings began in 2018. At least 29 migrants died at sea in 2025, according to an AFP count from official French and British sources.

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On the French side, we emphasize that since the start of the year, arrivals in the United Kingdom have halved compared to the same period last year. Some 480 smugglers were also arrested in 2025, according to the Interior Ministry.

Travel of Interior Ministers

This new agreement, the details of which will be discussed during a trip to the French coast on Thursday by the interior ministers of the two countries, plans to increase the police force by half. The workforce will thus be increased to some 1,400 agents by 2029.

A CRS unit, financed by France, will also be dedicated to the fight against illegal immigration and will have drones, helicopters and electronic means to "better prevent attempted crossings", and reduce the number of departures, particularly of "taxi-boats".

Collaboration between the United Kingdom and France has “already helped prevent tens of thousands of crossings”, underlined British Prime Minister Keir Starmer in a press release. “This historic agreement allows us to go further: by strengthening intelligence, surveillance and presence on the ground to protect Britain’s borders,” he added.

The police are regularly accused across the Channel of not doing enough to detain these makeshift boats which are taking more and more risks to avoid checks on the beaches by boarding directly at sea. Indeed, according to international law of the sea, once a boat is in the water, the authorities can only intervene to save people from drowning.

“A large part of the resources provided for in this partnership will be concentrated from the start of summer and during the summer period”, which is traditionally the period conducive to departures, specifies the roadmap.

Keir Starmer vowed to 'take back control of the borders'

A few weeks before local elections, presented by many as crucial for its retention in Downing Street, the Labor government of Keir Starmer, which promised to "take back control of the borders", is under pressure from the far-right Reform UK party of Nigel Farage.

Last summer, a new agreement, known as "one for one", was signed between the two countries to try to stem these crossings. It provides for the return to France of migrants who arrived irregularly in the United Kingdom, in exchange for the legal reception by this country of migrants found in France. But so far it has only affected a few hundred people.

On Thursday, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez and his British counterpart Shabana Mahmood must go to Loon-Plage near Dunkirk to the construction site of an administrative detention center (CRA) where foreigners subject to an obligation to leave French territory (OQTF) will be detained with a view to their expulsion.

With AFP

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