France blames Brexit for Channel migrant crossings

A leading French MP has blamed Britain's decision to quit the EU for the surge in migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
Éléonore Caroit, a member of president Emmanuel Macron's Renaissance party in the French National Assembly, said numbers had been increasing since Brexit, which meant Britain no longer had a returns agreement with the EU and a 'very weak asylum policy'.
She also repeated long-held French claims that Britain represented an 'El Dorado' to migrants because of its 'attractive' benefits and asylum system. El Dorado is a mythical city of gold, supposedly located in South America.
Her comments come amid increasing frustration in the UK across political parties at the failure of the French to stop migrants crossing the Channel, after Saturday saw a record daily total of 1,194 people reach the UK.
The French stopped just 184 migrants from leaving on Saturday, fewer than 15 per cent of the total 1,378 who attempted the crossing. The 1,194 brought the total so far this year to 14,811, the highest ever recorded in the first five months of a year and up 42 per cent on this time last year.
So far this year, the French have intercepted just 38 per cent of migrants, down from 45 per cent in 2024, 46.9 per cent in 2023 and 42.4 per cent in 2022 despite the UK putting up £480 million over three years to fund extra officers and surveillance equipment on the beaches to stop the migrants.
The French have committed to changing their laws so police can stop the boats in shallow waters, but have yet to make good on this pledge.
Chris Philp, shadow home secretary, has urged the Government to suspend its 12-year fishing deal with the French until they intercept migrants at sea and stop the Channel crossings.
Ms Caroit, who is vice president of the National Assembly's foreign affairs committee, said it was 'unfair' to say France had no political will to stop the boats.
But she said: 'One thing is for sure, the numbers are increasing, but they have been increasing since Brexit, after the UK is no longer part of the Dublin Regulation and has a very weak asylum policy.'
Credit: PA
The Dublin agreement enabled the UK to return migrants to the EU if it was shown they had travelled through a European country and had failed to claim asylum there. However, no replacement was negotiated in the Brexit talks, although Sir Keir Starmer is seeking to agree a similar scheme.
Challenged over the low stop rate of the French, Ms Caroit admitted that 'once the boats are in the water, it is impossible for the French policemen to actually intercept them.'
She said the legal change – allowing police to intervene in shallow waters – would make a difference. 'It's a matter of legislation, but it's also a matter, again, of what happened after Brexit. Before it was easier to have the migrants return,' she said.
'We need increased co-operation between the UK and the French, the authorities and policemen, so that we can actually have a clear division of what can be done when the boats are in the water.
'And most importantly, it is important to deter these boats from actually wanting to go to the UK. Because unless we stop this, we can put more money into it, [but] there will be more boats.'
Asked about the UK being an El Dorado, she said: 'It is. It's a complex situation, people want simple solutions, but you have to go to Calais and see what it looks like, and how many boats you have and how many people are waiting to go to the UK.
'So, of course, there is a part that can be improved in France, and we're working towards that. But I also think the UK needs to take responsibility, because it is so attractive to these migrant routes as of today, and we actually need to work together instead of blaming each other.'
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