French report criticising UK efforts to curb Channel crossings ‘out of date’

The Home Office has dismissed criticism of the UK’s work with France to curb the number of Channel crossings, insisting a watchdog’s findings are based on “out-of-date” information.

France is “struggling to develop operational co-operation arrangements” with the UK, according to the findings published by the country’s Court of Accounts on Thursday.

The French body in charge of auditing the use of public funds, which is independent from the government and parliament, also pointed to the “uncertain effectiveness” of illegal migration policies, the Associated Press reported.

France has been tasked with stepping up efforts to prevent Channel crossings in recent years by deploying more police and drawing on extra equipment and facilities in the wake of deals with the UK worth £191.3 million between 2018 and 2022, and £480 million which Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised to spend between 2023 and 2026.

The Court of Accounts’ findings are said to refer in particular to a joint intelligence unit created in 2020 to dismantle people-smuggling networks and reduce the number of migrants risking their lives to cross the Channel.

The watchdog “found that the British don’t provide usable information on the departures of small boats, and give very general, first-level information that has not been counter-checked”.

According to the findings, information on the circumstances in which migrants arrive and their nationalities, and on boats, “appears to be very patchy” and the “relationship between France and the UK is therefore unbalanced in terms of information and intelligence exchange”.

But the Home Office said the report was based on “out-of-date information and does not accurately reflect our current working relationship, including intelligence sharing, with France”.

“In the last two years, we have taken more robust action alongside them to crack down on vile people-smuggling gangs and stop the boats.

“We continue to work closely with French partners at all levels, helping to drive forward improvements in the prevention of crossing attempts, both on the beaches and long before they reach them,” a department spokesman added.

The provisional annual total number of crossings for last year – 29,437 – is 36% lower than the record 45,774 crossings for the whole of 2022.

But it is still the second highest annual total on record, above the figure for 2021 (28,526), UK Government figures show.

The Home Office puts this drop in numbers down to “relentless action” although some have questioned if poor weather conditions have been a contributing factor.

“More than 26,000 of these dangerous, illegal and unnecessary crossing attempts were prevented in 2023 thanks to our strong partnership with France”, the Home Office added.