The China Mail - France in talks with UK to end 2025 migrant accord: ministry

Talks are underway on "the terms for withdrawing from the agreement", the French ministry told AFP, confirming a report in Le Monde newspaper. London had been keen to extend the deal, under which Britain takes in the same number of migrants returned to France, but Paris was less enthusiastic.

The deal was agreed in 2025 by former British prime minister Keir Starmer in a bid to help a post-Brexit reset in Paris-London ties by easing what had become a major source of tension between the neighbours.

The pilot scheme was initially agreed to last for a year but had been extended until October 1, meaning it was due for renewal.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez said in June that he had "clearly announced" to Britain that this "pilot agreement... was not intended to be renewed beyond October 1, 2026."

Le Monde said Starmer's successor Andy Burnham had pressed Macron during talks in September to keep the deal alive but "Paris was in a hurry to end the cooperation on controlling migrant flows."

However UK Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood acknowledged in parliament this month that the deal has "not been without its challenges" and "the numbers are still relatively small".

"What has been more operationally difficult is to scale up very large numbers of removals every week into the French system," she added.

- Smugglers jailed -

The deal enabled Britain to deport some of the arrivals deemed not to have a right to stay.

In return, London was to accept an equal number of migrants from France who are likely to have their asylum claim granted, giving priority to nationalities most vulnerable to smugglers and those with ties in Britain.

The agreement aimed to smash the business model of smugglers who charge migrants huge amounts to make the perilous and sometimes deadly journey.

The deal, which was criticised by rights groups who said it was treating humans as commodities, initially targeted 2,600 exchanges.

But by early August, only 1,087 irregular migrants who had reached Britain had been returned to France under the agreement. In exchange, as of the end of June, London had legally admitted 1,117 other migrants who had applied in France, according to UK data.

On Monday, three migrants, including a 10-year-old boy, died off the French coast while trying to cross the Channel to Britain, French authorities said.

At least 22 people have died this year trying to cross the Channel, according to an AFP tally based on official French and British sources.

As of Sunday, some 19,135 people had crossed the Channel from France so far in 2026, down 42 percent year-on-year.

A French court on Wednesday sentenced six men to between six and 10 years in prison over the deaths of at least 31 people in the Channel in November 2021, the deadliest accident involving migrants trying to reach the English coast.

The court described the tragedy as caused by "individuals driven by greed, with utter disregard for human life".

O.Tse--ThChM