Migrants crossed the English Channel in small boats to Dover as Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron were in crunch talks over a deal on curbing their numbers.
People wearing life jackets arrived in Kent and disembarked from a Border Force boat amid sunny weather on Thursday.
Border Force vessels were sent in response to a number of boats on Thursday morning, according to HM coastguard.
Earlier, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed there were 78 illegal migrants on a dinghy intercepted by the French navy.
Under the deal being thrashed out by France and the UK during Emmanuel Macron’s state visit, up to 50 migrants a week could be sent back to France.
The French president will round off his three-day state visit with a press conference with the prime minister in London at which they are expected to announce new plans to tackle the small-boat crossings.
It’s understood the deal has not yet been finalised but a pilot scheme could start as early as next week, involving migrants being returned to France in exchange for those with genuine claims to be in the UK.
Recap: Refugee campaigners attack new deal
Campaigners for refugees warned the UK-France deal would drive migrants back into the hands of gangs.
Asylum Matters executive director Louise Calvey said: “Another grubby trade in human lives will do nothing more than remove people from this country back into the hands of people-smugglers, back to French shores where they’ll face the escalating police violence that has been agreed alongside this deal- violence that will cost people their lives.
“The only way to stop people from making dangerous journeys is to give them safe routes to seek sanctuary.”
Starmer and Macron presser delayed as world leaders discuss ‘coalition of the willing’
There is a growing sense of impatience amongst the large group of British and French journalists waiting in a sweltering holding room next to the where Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are set to deliver a press conference in London.
It is not yet clear when the presser – which has been hit by delays – will begin, but the two leaders are expected to unveil a new deal to return migrants to France if they arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel.
The UK prime minister and French president are held up on a call with other world leaders to discuss the the “coalition of the willing” – a proposed peacekeeping force to support Ukraine.
‘Dark days lie ahead if migration not tackled,’ Chris Philp warns
Dark days lie ahead if public concern about soaring migration is not addressed, the shadow home secretary has warned.
Chris Philp has said legal and illegal migration is a serious challenge across the Western world, and that he had spoken to senior figures in Germany’s Christian Democratic Union party, who said “this is their last chance to fix this problem before extreme right wing parties take over”.
“I think that should be a warning to all of us in mature Western democracies, that if we don’t fix this, extremely dark times could lie ahead,” Mr Philp added.
Philp: Rwanda plan would have worked
Chris Philp has said the Tories’ Rwanda plan would have worked, had they just been given more time.
The deportation scheme was announced by Boris Johnson and Priti Patel in April 2022, but was held up by legal complications until being scrapped by Labour after last year’s general election.
In the years since the plan was made public, being championed by three prime ministers, just four volunteers were eventually sent to Rwanda at a cost of £700m to taxpayers.B
ut, speaking to journalists on Thursday, the shadow home secretary said: “Keir Starmer must now be thinking, at least in the dark recesses of the night, that he made a catastrophic mistake by cancelling that just two or three weeks before it was due to start.”
Asylum charity: Starmer’s ‘grubby deal’ will leave migrants at mercy of smugglers
An asylum charity has warned that Sir Keir Starmer’s “grubby” one-in, one-out deal with Emmanuel Macron will put asylum seekers back in the hands of people smugglers.
Louise Calvey, executive director of Asylum Matters, said: “Another grubby trade in human lives will do nothing more than remove people from this country back into the hands of people smugglers, back to French shores where they’ll face the escalating police violence that has been agreed alongside this deal – violence that will cost people their lives.
“We don’t need another expensive, ineffective, dangerous Rwanda-style gimmick. We don’t need more enforcement making journeys even more dangerous. It’s incredibly simple: the only way to stop people from making dangerous journeys is to give them safe routes to seek sanctuary.”
European peacekeeping plans ‘ready to go’, says Macron
European plans for a peacekeeping force to aid Ukraine once the war ends are now “mature” after months of planning, Sir Keir Starmer said, with French President Emmanuel Macron describing them as “ready to go” once a ceasefire is agreed.
Speaking during a call with allies who make up the so-called coalition of the willing, the Prime Minister said: “I am very pleased to say today that these plans are mature and we are putting them on a long-term footing.”
New headquarters for the coalition of the willing are to be based in Paris, he added. Mr Macron told the gathered allies: “We have a plan that is ready to go and initiate in the hours after a ceasefire.”
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky joined the call from the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome alongside other allies.
Also dialled in was Keith Kellogg, a retired US general and special presidential envoy to Ukraine, as well as Lindsey Graham, a Republican US senator mobilising sanctions against Russia and his Democrat colleague Richard Blumenthal.
The coalition of the willing’s plans are dependent upon a US security guarantee. Mr Zelensky told the meeting that Ukraine needs the US “very much” because of its sanctions against Russia, as well as military support.
Recap: UK-France cooperation ‘never been stronger’, No 10 says
The level of co-operation with France has “never been stronger”, Downing Street has said as Sir Keir Starmer seeks to hammer out a migration deal with Emmanuel Macron.
A No 10 spokesman said he would not speculate on the details of a potential agreement and that “innovative” approaches and a “targeted international response” were needed to tackle illegal migration.
“Our co-operation with France has never been stronger,” he said.
Asked if Sir Keir Starmer still thinks the situation in the Channel is deteriorating, he said: “We’ve been consistently clear that the numbers are unacceptable.”
He welcomed the “changing tactics” of French authorities in recent weeks.
He continued: “Clearly, more work needs to be done, as I say, we will approach that, whether that is investing in border security command, whether that is working with our international allies. We’re clear that this is an international problem, cracking down on these gangs cannot be done singularly.”
In pictures: Latest migrant arrivals
Refugee campaigners attack new deal
Campaigners for refugees warned the UK-France deal would drive migrants back into the hands of gangs.
Asylum Matters executive director Louise Calvey said: “Another grubby trade in human lives will do nothing more than remove people from this country back into the hands of people-smugglers, back to French shores where they’ll face the escalating police violence that has been agreed alongside this deal- violence that will cost people their lives.
“The only way to stop people from making dangerous journeys is to give them safe routes to seek sanctuary.”
Government has ‘serious plan to tackle gangs’
A Home Office spokesperson said the government had a “serious plan” to crack down on people-smuggling gangs.
“We all want to end dangerous small boat crossings, which threaten lives and undermine our border security,” the spokesperson said.
