Policy Brief Sets Out Road Map for a UK-France Readmissions Deal with Innovative Approach to Channel Crossings

WASHINGTON, DC — Amid rumors of a forthcoming UK-France announcement on cooperation to address irregular Channel crossings, a new Migration Policy Institute (MPI) policy brief out today examines the legal, operational and political steps needed for France to readmit irregular migrants who cross the Channel in small boats.

Under the contemplated readmissions deal, the United Kingdom would accept transfers of certain asylum seekers from the European Union in return for an agreement by France and/or other Calais Group countries (Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands) to readmit asylum seekers who have reached the United Kingdom by sea, thus serving as a deterrent for Channel crossings.

In Small Boats, Big Stakes: Options for a UK-EU Deal on Migration and Asylum, MPI proposes the establishment of multi-purpose hubs across France to select people with high asylum recognition rates and UK ties for safe passage to the United Kingdom, as part of the deal. Combining readmissions with a viable legal alternative holds the best chance of severing the pull factors for these crossings.

Detailing the need to prioritize bringing down dangerous crossings, the brief offers suggestions for how the architects of such a deal could create proof of concept through a pilot program, at least initially. It further outlines the operational steps needed for readmissions, from screening for connections to EU countries to transfers and ultimately asylum processing or returns to the country of origin, and how authorities could get this off the ground even without the United Kingdom having access to the Eurodac database, a major sticking point in prior negotiations.

The analysis recommends:

• That multi-purpose hubs across France, which would screen people for eligibility for lawful pathways to the United Kingdom, be modelled on the Safe Mobility Offices (SMOs) concept used in the Americas.
• The pilot program initially prioritize individuals with UK connections and from countries with high asylum recognition rates.
• The pilot operate with a monthly quota that is indexed to readmission numbers from the United Kingdom, to achieve 1:1 parity in responsibility sharing and provide predictable admissions numbers that the UK government could communicate clearly to its public.
• Creation of a Bilateral Digital Screening Pilot (Eurodac‑Lite) that enables checking the biometrics of arrivals in the United Kingdom against the Eurodac system, thus facilitating readmissions from the United Kingdom to France. French liaison officers could be stationed at UK intake sites with secure tablets granting read‑only access to Eurodac data.
• The United Kingdom offer support for returns to origin countries (for instance, in the form of charter flights) and funding for reception capacity.

In addition, the brief argues that the United Kingdom could show solidarity with its European counterparts by participating in the Solidarity Pool, a new initiative envisaged under the EU Pact on Migration and Asylum.

“A readmissions deal between the UK and its European partners is essential to bring down dangerous small boat crossings and improve how countries share responsibility for asylum seekers,” said Meghan Benton, director of MPI’s Global Programs. “But it could also offer the opportunity to test a radically new approach to asylum and migration that sidesteps current challenges.”

Read the policy brief here: www.migrationpolicy.org/research/small-boats-uk-eu-deal.

For a brief précis of the findings in French, click here.

For all MPI research related to asylum, visit: www.migrationpolicy.org/topics/asylum-seekers.