UK: ‘Groundbreaking’ agreement with France to reduce irregular Channel crossings ― Government to resume processing of Syrian asylum claims ― NGO report reveals ‘devastating violence’ experienced by children on UK-France border ― Hundreds of asylum-seek…

• The UK and France have agreed a migration deal aimed at reducing the number of people who cross the Channel in small boats.
• The government has announced that it will resume the processing of Syrian asylum claims.
• A new NGO report has revealed the violence to which children trying to cross the Channel in small boats are exposed.
• Hundreds of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children were wrongly classed as adults in 2024.

The UK and France have agreed a migration deal aimed at reducing the number of people who cross the Channel in small boats. Under the pilot scheme, which was announced on 10 July, some people who arrived in the UK irregularly would be returned to France while an equivalent number of people in France, including those with family connections in the UK, would be allowed to enter the country. Speaking at a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described the deal as “groundbreaking” and predicted that it would help to “break the model” of the people smugglers. Starmer also promised a “crackdown” on illegal working in the UK in order to ensure that the jobs that are promised to people who made irregular Channel crossings would no longer exist. Macron said that the scheme would have a “deterrent effect” beyond the numbers returned.

Commenting on the agreement, former Chief Inspector of Immigration and Borders John Vine said that it was “an achievement in itself” but that it would not reduce the number of small boat crossings unless a “considerable” number of people were be returned. Elsewhere, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) welcomed the deal, saying that, if appropriately implemented, it could “help achieve a more managed and shared approach, offering alternatives to dangerous journeys, while upholding access to asylum”, while a spokesperson for the European Commission said that it would be assessing the details of the agreement to determine whether it was “compatible with the spirit and the letter of EU law”.

NGOs reactions to the announcement have been rather varied. ECRE member organisation the Refugee Council described the deal as “an important first step” but stressed the importance of it being “implemented in a way that treats all those seeking asylum fairly and with respect and dignity”. This call for fairness was echoed by ECRE member organisation the Immigration Law Practitioners’ Association: “At the moment, we have no details as to how the deal will work in practice, who will be chosen for return, whether it will create another backlog of ‘inadmissible’ asylum claims, leaving people lingering in limbo and detention, how the UK will ensure it does not unlawfully discriminate, or how individual rights and access to justice will be upheld,” said the organisation’s legal director, Zoe Bantleman. The reaction from NGOs that support people on the move in and around Calais was much more critical. Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said that it was reducing men, women and children to “exchangeable tokens” while Care4Calais described it as a “gimmick that lacks any operational credibility” and raised doubts about the process of selecting people who would be allowed to enter the UK. This criticism was echoed by the NGO Asylum Matters which described the scheme as a “convoluted Rwanda-style gimmick and yet another example of our governments choosing not to implement the only policy that will save lives: safe and accessible routes for all who need them”.

The government has announced that it will resume the processing of Syrian asylum claims. On 14 July, more than seven months after decisions were paused following the fall of the Assad regime, Minister for Border Security and Asylum Dame Angela Eagle published a written statement in which she said that the Home Office (Ministry of the Interior) had “worked to lift the pause as soon as there was sufficient information to make accurate and well-evidenced determinations” and that claims “can be processed and safe return reviews conducted in line with published policy for any Syrian nationals applying for settlement protection”. The announcement was welcomed by the Refugee Council which recognised the difficulties the pause had created for Syrians in the UK whist also urging caution: “We know the pause in decision making had left Syrian people trapped in further limbo, unable to work, move on with their lives and fearing for their future. However, the situation in Syria continues to be unstable, and we urge the government to ensure that every asylum application is assessed on a case-by-case basis, ensuring the safety and protection of Syrians who would face extreme risk if they are returned,” CEO Enver Solomon posted on social media.

A new NGO report has revealed the violence to which children trying to cross the Channel in small boats are exposed. The report, which was published by the NGO Project Play on 1 July, also highlighted that at least 15 children lost their lives on the UK-France border in 2024, more than in the previous four years combined. The authors have called for accountability from both the UK and French governments for border deaths, including the publication of transparent data on incidents and fatalities; an end to violent French police operations in living sites and on beaches, and a halt to the UK funding which enables them; and the creation of safe and accessible routes to asylum in both France and the UK for all those who need them.

Hundreds of unaccompanied asylum-seeking children were wrongly classed as adults in 2024. According to data collected from local authorities via freedom of information (FOI) requests by the Helen Bamber Foundation and published by the i newspaper, at least 678 children (56% of total referrals sent for age reassessment) were “initially classed as adults before being referred to councils and then found to be children”. It is also likely that this is an underestimate of the true scale of the problem as only 90 local authorities – just under half of those asked – responded to the FOI requests. However, it does represent a slight decrease from 2022 when 867 children (63% of total referrals to 70 local authorities) were wrongly classified as adults. Commenting on the data, Kamena Dorling from the Helen Bamber Foundation said: “Every year hundreds of unaccompanied children seeking protection are incorrectly determined by border officials to be adults based on a cursory visual assessment,” adding: “Not only are they then forced to share rooms with strangers in adult asylum accommodation, many are now also ending up in adult prisons after being prosecuted for illegal arrival”. “What we need is urgent change to the flawed policy of officials assessing age on sight,” she concluded.

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