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Starmer and Macron’s migration deal ‘has the potential to be Labour’s Rwanda’
Prime Minister Keir Starmer and President of France Emmanuel Macron during a plenary at the UK-France Summit, in Downing Street, London, July 10, 2025

BRITISH and French leaders will have “blood on their hands” if they allow more police attacks on small boat crossings, campaigners warned today.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron have agreed on a new migration deal in London following a three-day state visit.

Sir Keir announced a “groundbreaking returns pilot” which will see people arriving by small boat detained and returned to France.

“In exchange for every return, a different individual will be allowed to come here via a safe route-controlled and legal — subject to strict security checks, and only open to those who have not tried to enter the UK illegally.”

Sir Keir said the pilot will come into effect “in the coming weeks.”

He thanked the French government for taking steps to allow their officers “to intervene in shallow waters and prevent more boats from launching.”

Last week, BBC footage showed French police slashing an inflatable boat, a practice refugee groups say has been happening for years.

Children were heard crying as police used knives to puncture the vessel south of Boulogne.

Sir Keir’s spokesman described it as a “significant moment.”

“We want to see tougher action taken, that’s precisely the focus of our work, it is the outcome of that close work that you’ve seen,” he told the BBC.

Following the unveiling of the new plans, over 60 refugee and migrant support organisations have written to British and French leaders, urging an end to the escalating violence.

“We ask you: how many more people must die before your actions are deemed ‘tough’ enough?” the statement reads.

It warns that increasing police operations fail to deter people from trying to cross the Channel, adding: “Instead, it leads to increased risk with more dangerous kinds of crossing.

The letter said that average boat occupancy is up “at least seven-fold,” and that people are boarding in underinflated boats and further from the coast to evade aggressive enforcement.

“This is not the choice of individuals seeking safety, but the tactics enforced by smugglers in response to government policy.

“If police operations get even ‘tougher,’ these deadly trends will only worsen.”

Louise Calvey, executive director of Asylum Matters, which co-ordinated the statement, said: “If they go ahead with a plan to allow more police attacks on people in boats in the water, British and French leaders will have people’s blood on their hands.

“2024 was the deadliest year on record in our waters — if these plans go ahead, even more people will die.”

Lachlan Macrae from Calais Food Collective, an aid group supporting displaced people in northern France, said: “The UK government has welcomed tactics like slashing boats as a new approach — but those of us on the ground know this isn’t new.

“French police have been attacking boats with knives for years. These policies have never worked. They only cause more suffering — and more deaths.

“We’ve seen it again and again. Brutal deterrence doesn’t stop crossings — it just makes them more dangerous.”

Katie Hall of Project Play warned that more children were killed last year than in the previous four years combined.

“Instead of keeping children safe, these policies expose them to profound violence and lasting harm,” she said.

Last year was the deadliest on record for people attempting to cross the Channel. At least 82 people died, 15 of them children, although there is no official data tracking fatalities.

Care4Calais CEO Steve Smith said the deal “has the potential to be the Labour government’s Rwanda.”

“In opposition, Keir Starmer railed against Tory gimmicks,” he said. “Now he’s creating his own.

“The ‘new enforcement tactics’ he lauds will only risk more lives as French police hostility, such as intercepting boats in the water, forces people to take ever dangerous measures in order to seek sanctuary in the UK.”

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