Two men, Mohammad Tajik and Alnour Ali, have been jailed in the UK for endangering others during sea crossings, marking the first sentences under a new law. Tajik received two years and Ali 27 months for their roles in steering overcrowded boats.
Alnour Mohamed Ali pleaded guilty to endangering life after four migrants drowned during an attempted Channel crossing from France on 9 April. He admitted piloting the boat and is due to be sentenced on 10 June.
A BBC investigation reveals people smugglers are using UK-registered businesses, including a phone shop, wholesale business, and car wash, to facilitate payments for illegal Channel crossings. Migrants are directed to deposit cash or make electronic transfers to these firms, which then send the money to smugglers in France. Experts express concern over the brazen attitude of smugglers and the difficulty authorities face in tracing and recovering profits from the smuggling trade.
Two Sudanese asylum seekers, including a 16-year-old girl and a woman in her 20s, have died after their boat ran aground on a French beach near Boulogne. Approximately 82 people were on board the dinghy, which suffered engine failure and began drifting. Three survivors are in critical condition with burns from a mix of engine fuel and sea water, while 14 others sustained injuries. The incident brings the Channel crossing death toll to at least eight this year and raises questions about the UK-France £662m deal to stop small boat crossings.
French coastguard rescued 106 people from a broken-down boat attempting to cross the English Channel, with six more rescued in a separate incident, totaling 119 people. The rescues occurred less than a week after the UK and France signed a new £662m agreement to prevent Channel crossings, including deploying riot-trained police to French beaches.
The UK has agreed to pay for 200 French officers to detain and deport asylum seekers from 10 specific nationalities under a new £662m deal with France. The detain-and-deport scheme targets nationals from Eritrea, Afghanistan, Iran, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Iraq, Syria, Vietnam and Yemen at a new removal site in Dunkirk. The deal includes a £162m payment-by-results package on top of a new three-year £500m baseline agreement, with the Dunkirk facility expected to open by end of 2026.
The UK has signed a new £662m three-year deal with France to deploy at least 50 riot-trained police officers to French beaches, along with drones, helicopters and camera systems, to stop illegal migrants crossing the English Channel. The agreement includes performance-based funding where around £100m could be withdrawn after a year if French authorities fail to reduce crossings sufficiently. The deal comes amid increased Channel crossings with 41,472 arrivals in 2025 and over 6,000 in 2026 so far.
Three-year deal includes funding for a riot squad to ‘disperse’ people trying to board small boatsThe UK government has agreed to pay France another £660m to curb the number of asylum seekers travelling across the Channel, including plans to fund a riot squad to “contain and disperse” people trying to board small boats.Under a three-year deal to be signed on Thursday by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, 1,100 enforcement, intelligence and military officers – an increase of 40% – will be employed to track down smuggling gangs and people seeking refuge. Continue reading...
