After months of tense negotiations over border security, the United Kingdom and France have formally announced a new three-year bilateral agreement aimed at halting dangerous unauthorized migrant crossings of the English Channel in small vessels. The accord, which renewes and updates the 2018 Sandhurst Treaty set to expire this year, marks a major new step in addressing a long-running contentious issue that has roiled domestic politics on both sides of the Channel.
Under the terms of the new deal, France has committed to expanding its coastal law enforcement presence by more than 50 percent, with a target of 1,400 active officers deployed to border patrols by 2029. To support these expanded efforts, the UK will provide up to 766 million euros (equivalent to $897 million) in funding, though roughly 24 percent of this total allocation is tied to performance conditions. Even if the conditional portion of funding is not released, the UK’s guaranteed core contribution of 580 million euros still represents a 40 million euro increase over the funding level agreed in the last iteration of the treaty.
The months-long negotiation process was shaped by longstanding disagreements between the two neighboring countries. The UK has repeatedly criticized France for insufficient action to stop asylum seekers and irregular migrants from departing French shores, a gap that has allowed people smuggling networks to operate and pushed migrants to take increasingly life-threatening risks to avoid detection. Ahead of a new agreement, London insisted that any renewal of the Sandhurst Treaty would require the ability to attach performance conditions to how British taxpayer funds are used by French authorities.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer framed the agreement as a historic breakthrough for UK border security, noting that existing bilateral cooperation “already stopped tens of thousands of crossings.” He added that “this historic agreement means we can go further: ramping up intelligence, surveillance and boots on the ground to protect Britain’s borders.” UK Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood echoed that framing, stating that “This landmark deal will stop illegal migrants making the perilous journey and put people smugglers behind bars.” Mahmood and French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez are scheduled to unveil further operational details of the plan Thursday during a visit to the site of a planned deportation accommodation center in Loon-Plage, near Dunkirk.
Per terms outlined in a French interior ministry document outlining the agreement, if the new measures fail to deliver “sufficient results” — as determined by a joint annual assessment — unspent conditional funding will be redirected to alternative anti-smuggling and border control initiatives.
Beyond increased foot patrols, the deal’s roadmap outlines plans for France to deploy new technological resources, including drones, helicopters and digital surveillance tools, to disrupt smuggling operations before departures. The agreement reflects a key constraint of international maritime law: once a small vessel has left shore, authorities may only intervene to rescue migrants from drowning, rather than turning them back to France.
The new deal comes at a critical political juncture for Prime Minister Starmer, who took office recently and faces intense domestic pressure to curb unauthorized immigration. His government is currently mired in a growing political scandal over the appointment of Peter Mandelson as UK ambassador to the United States, over Mandelson’s longstanding personal ties to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. Starmer’s political standing and the future of his Labour Party are widely seen as tied to the party’s performance in upcoming May local elections, with recent polling suggesting Labour faces significant projected losses.
Official data underscores the scale of the challenge the new agreement aims to address. Official UK statistics show that 41,472 people crossed the Channel to reach the UK illegally via small boat in 2025, marking the second-highest annual total on record since large-scale crossings began in 2018. An AFP tally compiled from official French and British sources confirms that at least 29 migrants died attempting the crossing in 2025. French officials have pushed back against UK criticism, noting that unauthorized arrivals to the UK have halved in early 2026 compared to the same period in 2025, and that French law enforcement arrested roughly 480 suspected people smugglers across 2025.