At least 60 migrants have been taken back to France by British vessels after being rescued in the Channel, the Daily Express can reveal. In a sign of improving relations with Paris on migration, three Border Force vessels have been allowed to take asylum seekers back to French ports.
The first British operation took place in October as the two governments scrambled to prevent more migrant deaths in the Channel. But the Daily Express can reveal another two British vessels have been given permission to take people back to Calais. Border Force captains can request permission to dock at a French port if they have rescued migrants from the water.
Migrants wade out into the Channel after a dinghy (Image: Getty)
It is an agreement designed to save lives at sea and the destination is dependent upon factors such as whether there are any medical emergencies or the conditions in the Channel.
But former immigration minister Kevin Foster urged the Home Office to go further and push for France to allow British vessels to take migrants back.
He told the Daily Express: “It’s welcome news to hear Border Force has been able to take back to France some of the migrants who left its shores.
“Let’s hope this is a sign of more to come as UK taxpayers are fed up paying the bill for those who left safe and democratic France to instead abuse the UK’s asylum system.
“If they can take three boatloads back, they should take them all back and end the chaos in the Channel.”
Former prime minister Rishi Sunak raised the plan – codenamed Operation Windspire – with French president Emmanuel Macron during a bilateral call last summer.
Under the proposal, British vessels could enter French waters and rescue migrants if they were in distress. The Home Office also considered renting a rescue ship from Poland to conduct more joint operations.
The confidential plan was put into action for the first time in October.
An insider told the Daily Express: “It was always planned that this would be done with French co-operation and would not be possible without their buy-in.”
The Home Office is pressing Paris to intercept migrants in the water to drastically cut the number of crossings.
French police refuse to intervene once a vessel is in the water.
Smugglers have adapted by using so-called “taxi-boats”, where they quietly launch the dinghy in a canal or quieter part of the beach and then pick up larger numbers of migrants down the coastline.
This tactic has surged in recent months and has been linked to a soaring death toll.
More than 6,600 migrants have crossed the Channel this year, heaping pressure on ministers to do more to stop the boats.
Channel arrivals are up 31% since Labour came to power last summer, compared with the same period from 2023-24 – despite the party’s election pledge to smash the criminal smuggling gangs.
And fury erupted on Friday morning after French police told a dinghy with around 80 people on board they had “an hour or less than an hour”.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “To stop these illegal, dangerous and unnecessary crossings France needs only to intercept the boats near the French coast and take them back.
“Very soon, the illegal immigrants would then stop attempting the crossing and no longer congregate in camps around Calais. The UK Government should also urgently implement a removals deterrent – it was a catastrophic mistake to cancel Rwanda before it even started.”
