Juxtaposed border controls in France and Belgium allow the UK to limit access to the territory. On 18 January 2018 the two governments reiterated their commitment to juxtaposed controls in the Sandhurst Agreement, although no new measures were introduced relating to the operation of those controls.[1] A report by the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration into the juxtaposed controls has little mention of asylum claimants, although it does mention ‘ethical decision making’ through the use of discretion for Ukrainians without visas.[2]
The Equality Act 2010 permits immigration officers to discriminate on grounds of nationality if they do so in accordance with the authorisation of a minister.[3] This discrimination may include subjecting certain groups of passengers to a more rigorous examination. Ministerial authorisations are made on the basis of statistical information of a higher number of breaches of immigration law or of adverse decisions in relation to people of that nationality. The statistical basis is not published.
Immigration officers have the power to refuse entry at the border unless the passenger has a valid entry clearance or claims asylum. It is not known whether, and if so, how many people sent back from the border wished to claim asylum but did not say so to immigration officers or were de facto not given an opportunity to do so. UNHCR published a report in May 2023 of an audit they carried out on the UK’s asylum intake, registration and screening procedures.[4] Concerns were raised about the use of informal barriers to asylum claims, one airport was described as having a senior manager who advocated for his staff to try to persuade asylum applicants to withdraw their claims and noted particular success in this with young people.[5]
In 2024, 23,844 people were refused entry at the UK port of whom 8,930 were at the juxtaposed controls (see below) and were denied access to the UK.[6] The information stated that these are non-asylum cases, although it is not known how many wished to claim asylum. The information also stated that a proportion of those initially refused and detained at the border may subsequently be admitted although no figures are given for this category. In 2025 the Home Office reported that 18,279 people were refused entry at port and subsequently departed.[7]
In the control zones in France and Belgium, no asylum claim can be made to UK authorities,[8] and the acknowledged purpose of these agreements with France and Belgium was to stop people travelling to the UK to claim asylum.[9] Of the 8,930 people turned back in control zones in 2024,[10] it is not known how many wished to claim asylum. There is little or no information about any attempted claims, and whether those who attempt to claim are referred to the authorities of the state of departure, as the regulations require. In 2025 the Home Office stopped publishing data on the number of people refused entry at the juxtaposed controls.
During an investigation by the Children’s Commissioner for England in 2012, Home Office officials disclosed the ‘Gentleman’s Agreement’.[11] This operates in relation to people intercepted on landing in the UK who are considered to have made an illegal entry and who do not say that they wish to claim asylum. The agreement is between the UK and France and obliges France to accept the return of such passengers if this can be effected within 24 hours.
Returns under the Gentleman’s Agreement are carried out without a formal refusal of leave to enter. Following the Commissioner’s discovery that this was being applied to young people, the practice was stopped in relation to acknowledged children. This agreement still applies to adults and those who appear to be adults. The 2003 Le Touquet Treaty, which is still applicable, states that anyone claiming asylum at the juxtaposed controls will be dealt with by the French authorities.[12]
The ministerial authorisation to discriminate in refusing leave to enter also takes effect in control zones. Although there is little substantiated evidence of refoulement taking place at the border, current UK policy and practice creates a risk of this occurring. In 2022, reports of Albanians held in the short-term holding facility at Manston and quickly removed to Albania raised questions about the lack of access to legal advice to allow people held there to realistically consider making an asylum claim.[13]
A new joint statement between the UK and France related to Channel crossings was signed in November 2022.[14] Between 2014 and 2022, the UK committed approximately £232 million to border security in northern France (approx. EUR 279 million as of 12/24).[15] Under a new three year agreement in March 2023, the UK agreed to contribute EUR 141 million for 2023-2024, EUR 191 million for 2024-2025 and EUR 209 million for 2025-2026. The funding was to cover 500 additional officers in France, new infrastructure and surveillance equipment (such as drones, helicopters) and a new French immigration detention centre.[16] In February 2025 the UK government announced that funds would be reallocated to provide 12 specialist intelligence officers in Dunkirk and to mobilise a new policing unit in France.[17]
Discussions have taken place between the two states regarding responsibility for search and rescue as well as preventative measures.
The UK government continues to blame ‘criminal smuggling gangs’ and individuals themselves for the danger to life – condemning the actions of both and prosecuting those who arrive across the Channel through the criminal justice system. This has led to an increase in the criminalisation of those who arrive via this route. The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 amended the Immigration Act 1971 to introduce new offence of “illegal arrival” which applies to a person who requires permission to enter the UK but arrives in the UK without it.[18] The maximum sentence for the offence is four years. For “facilitating” irregular migration the maximum sentence was increased by the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 to life imprisonment.
There are two separate provisions of the Immigration Act 1971 which are used to criminalise people arriving via the Channel, section 24 concerns illegal arrival and section 25 assisting unlawful immigration to the UK (‘facilitation’). Data disclosed shows that from 28 June 2022 to the end of November 2025 there were 385 passengers and 290 people identified as piloting the boat arrested on suspicion of illegal arrival. 575 passengers and 704 “pilots” were subsequently charged. 328 passengers and 293 “pilots” were subsequently convicted. For the facilitation offence over the same period there were 11 passengers arrested, 6 charged and zero convicted, and 351 people identified as pilots were arrested, 92 charged and 12 convicted.[19] Concerns have been raised about the detention and prosecution of age disputed children.[20]
The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025 introduced a further offence related to Channel crossings, which is “endangering another during sea crossing to United Kingdom”.[21] The offence is committed where, during a journey by water from France, Belgium or the Netherlands to the UK, a person did an act that caused or created a risk of death or serious personal injury to another person.
The UK government has also made agreements with the French government to prevent people from leaving France to cross the Channel to the UK. In March 2025 the two countries signed the ‘Upstream Working Group Roadmap’ which aimed to deepen cooperation on stemming irregular migration flows into France and the UK.[22]
In August 2025 the UK ratified a treaty with France “UK/France: Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys”.[23] The treaty provides for people who arrive in the UK via the Channel to be returned to France and for the same number of people who are returned to France to be brought safely to the UK. A statement of changes published on 5 August 2025 introduced a new Appendix UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme to the Immigration Rules.[24] This appendix sets out the requirements for a person to meet in order to come to the UK under the arrangements.
To be eligible to come to the UK under the scheme, the applicant must not have previously entered the UK without permission and they must not have leave in France or have been granted international protection in another country.[25] Those in France who wish to apply to come to the UK must register an expression of interest.[26] Successful applicants are granted entry clearance for up to three months.[27] As at the end of January 2026, it was reported that 281 people had been returned to France under the agreement, and 350 people had arrived in the UK from France.[28]
In December 2025 several UN special rapporteurs wrote to the UK and French governments raising concerns about potential breaches of human rights.[29] 80 people detained pending removal under the treaty compiled a report saying that they have suffered “fear, humiliation and psychological distress” since arriving in the UK on small boats.[30] The NGO Medical Justice has also published a report providing comprehensive analysis of the backgrounds, experiences and mistreatment of 33 people detained under the agreement since August 2025.[31]
The Home Secretary appointed a Clandestine Channel Threat Commander in August 2020.[32] In January 2023 this was replaced by the newly created Small Boats Operational Command.[33] In September 2024 a new role of Border Security Commander was created.[34] The role was put on a statutory footing through its inclusion in The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act 2025.[35] The Border Security Command has a broader remit than the Small Boats Operational Command and is tasked with prevention work earlier in the people smuggling chains.[36] In March 2026 the Border Security Command who had been in post for 18 months resigned from the role.[37]
In 2022 there were 1,381 attempted Channel crossings that were prevented, carrying 33,788 people.[38] In 2024 36,816 people arrived in the UK by small boat. In 2023 there were 29,437 people who arrived in the UK by small boat across the Channel. This was 36% lower than in 2022 and the reduction is explained partly by poor weather conditions as well as a 93% reduction in Albanians arriving via this route.[39] In 2025 22,476 people were prevented from making the crossing, and 41,472 people did make the crossing.[40]
In 2021 it is estimated that 41 people died while trying to cross the Channel, in 2022 this was 13 people. In 2023 it is estimated that 19 people died trying to make the crossing of the Channel to the UK.[41] In 2024 at least 82 deaths were reported, including a record number of children.[42] In 2025 there were 36 deaths recorded of people who were trying to travel from mainland Europe to the UK. Not all of these were deaths resulting from an attempted Channel crossing: three of these were vehicle accidents and some causes of death remain unknown. One child died off the coast of France.[43]
In one incident on 23 to 24 November 2021, it is estimated that at least 30 people died trying to cross the Channel. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch published an Accident Investigation Report on 8 November 2023.[44] Documents disclosed under a Freedom of Information request showed that just prior to this incident the UK coastguard downgraded emergency calls from as many as four boats, meaning that they were treated as not in need of urgent rescue.[45] On 9 November 2023 the government announced an independent, non-statutory inquiry into the incident (“the Cranston Inquiry”).[46] Full hearings for the inquiry started in March 2025.[47]
The report by the Cranston Inquiry was published on 5 February 2026 and found systemic failures, missed opportunities and inadequate resourcing that contributed to the failure to rescue people. The report also includes a section on those who died in the incident, setting out details of their lives and the circumstances leading up to their attempted journey across the Channel. 18 recommendations were made, covering various aspects of search and rescue, and publication of information relating to the implementation of recommendations made by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch.[48]
An interim report was published by the Marine Accident Investigation Branch in December 2023 in relation to another incident on 14 December 2022 where at least 8 people died.[49] The full report was published in August 2024 and found that “the inflatable boat was wholly unsuitable and ill-equipped for the crossing attempt and the occupants’ only method of raising the alarm was via mobile phone”.[50] A Senegalese national who was 20 years old at the date of the incident was convicted of several offences including gross negligence manslaughter and was sentenced to 9 years 6 months’ imprisonment and was refused permission to appeal against the conviction and sentence.[51]
Border monitoring
The only land border in the UK is between Ireland and Northern Ireland, and passport checks are not in routine operation.[52]
Legal access to the territory
For information about family reunification, please see the specific Family reunification section.
There is no humanitarian visa available for people to apply for outside the UK, so that they can enter to claim asylum. Resettlement schemes are available, these are the UK Resettlement Scheme, Community Sponsorship Scheme and Mandate Resettlement Scheme, all of these schemes take refugees identified by UNHCR.[53] People arriving under these resettlement schemes are granted the standard five years’ refugee leave once they arrive in the UK.
The government launched a Community Sponsorship scheme as part of the VPRS programme in 2022. There are strict criteria for becoming a sponsor, including the type of organisation that can apply and the need to be approved by the local authority before applying to the Home Office. Guidance was issued at the same time as the scheme was launched.[54]
The UK Resettlement Scheme brought 525 people to the UK in 2025, a further 12 people came via the Community Sponsorship Scheme and 6 via the Mandate Scheme.[55]
Separate schemes are in place for a very limited number of Afghans, it is not possible to apply and the most recent request for expressions of interest closed in 2022.[56] The Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy resettled 2,904 people to the UK in 2023. In 2024 5,130 people came and 4,599 people in 2025, although these numbers also include those who arrived under the previously secret ARR scheme (see below).[57]
An Afghan resettlement scheme (ACRS) was also announced, firstly in August 2021 but with details in January 2022. Of the three identified pathways, only one grants refugee status (pathway 2), taking referrals from UNHCR in line with the usual resettlement pathway. In 2023, 104 people had been resettled through this pathway and 688 under pathway 3.In 2024 a total of 2,061 people came to the UK via the ACRS and 1,271 came in 2025.[58]
Others who were evacuated from Afghanistan in 2021 or are to be brought directly with the assistance of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, were be given indefinite leave to remain outside of the Immigration Rules.[59] This made applying for family reunion more difficult than for other refugees, when Appendix Family Reunion was still in place.[60] A report by Safe Passage found that some of the most at-risk Afghans were finding it difficult to access the existing resettlement programmes because of the inflexible eligibility criteria.[61]
In July 2025 the government announced to the House of Commons that there had been a significant data breach in February 2022 relating to people who had submitted an expression of interest to the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy. The High Court had granted a super injunction relating to the breach, meaning that even the existence of the injunction could not be reported on. That was lifted in July 2025 which prompted the statement by the Defence Secretary in the House of Commons.[62]
The data breach was that an official had mistakenly disclosed the personal information of 18,714 Afghans who had applied to the relocation scheme. As a result of this the government set up a new resettlement scheme in 2023 which was designed for the people whose data had been disclosed. This route was called the Afghanistan Response Route and it was closed in July 2025, on the same day that the existence of the scheme was disclosed by the government. The scheme brought 900 main applicants and 3,600 of their family members to the UK.[63]
Section 61 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023 required the government to publish a report on safe and legal routes to the UK, to include details of any proposed additional safe and legal routes which were not yet operational.[64] The only proposed change in the published report was to place a cap on the number of refugees accepted by the UK.[65]
No formal resettlement routes were opened in 2025 but there were medical evacuations of groups of children who required medical treatment and their families from Gaza.[66] A second scheme was opened for students (and eligible dependants) from Gaza offered a scholarship to study in the UK, this still required a normal student visa application to be made, but the scheme means that the UK would provide support for the student to leave Gaza. The Home Office has published guidance on both schemes.[67]
In November 2025 the government said that two capped routes would be introduced for refugees to either study in the UK or come to the UK for work. No timeframes were given.[68] In February 2026 the Home Secretary said that the government is “committed to opening up new safe and legal routes” but that numbers would be relatively small and the ability to increase those numbers would depend on reducing the number of people arriving across the Channel and unspecified “wider abuses in the asylum system” being dealt with.[69]
In 2025 52% of the people who claimed asylum arrived through illegal entry routes. 39% of asylum claims (39,095) were from people who entered the UK lawfully, for example on a visitor, student or work visa. Of those 39,095 people, 35% were on a work visa before claiming asylum, 32% were students and 19% visitors.[70]
On 5 March 2026 the Home Secretary announced a new process described as a “visa brake”. Nationals of Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan were prohibited from a grant of a student visa, and Afghan nationals would have both student and work visa applications refused.[71] This was implemented via the March statement of changes and came into effect on 26 March 2026.[72]
The reasons given by the government for choosing nationals of these countries was that there had been “widespread visa abuse”, however the press release referred to percentages only, rather than the actual numbers of claims that had been made.[73]
The impact assessment published along with the changes shows that in the year ending September 2025 there had been 110 asylum claims from Afghan nationals on skilled work visas and 470 claims from Afghan nationals on student visas. For the other three countries, those on student visas claiming asylum amounted to 180 from Cameroon (570 student visas issued), 330 claims from Myanmar (2,080 student visas issued), and 120 from Sudan (260 student visas issued).[74] These claims amount to just over 1% of the total over that period.
The impact assessment says that nationals of these four countries represent “some of the consistently highest proportions of asylum claims relative to visas issued” and explains that the visa brake will last for 18 months after which it will be reviewed. The assessment indicates that this process could be used again in future and the threshold to trigger an assessment of whether to impose a visa brake is a minimum of 100 asylum claims per year linked to a visa from a particular nationality, and the number of asylum claims made by those on the route is at least 15% of the number of visas issued.[75]
The preliminary step has been taken for a legal challenge to this change.[76]
[1] UK Parliament, ‘Statement HCWS415 Migration’, 19 January 2018, available here.
[2] ICIBI, ‘An inspection of juxtaposed controls – April – May 2022’, October 2022, available here.
[3] Equality Act 2010, s 29 and sch 3, pt 4.
[4] UNHCR, ‘Asylum screening in the UK’, 26 May 2023, available here.
[5] UNHCR, ‘Asylum screening in the UK’, 26 May 2023, available here, 26.
[6] Home Office, ‘Immigration system statistics data tables, Passengers refused entry at the border detailed datasets, year ending December 2024’, table Stp_D01, 27 February 2025, available here.
[7] Home Office, ‘Immigration system statistics data tables, Returns detailed datasets, year ending December 2025’, table Ret_D01, 26 February 2026, available here.
[8] In the case of France, this is stated in Article 4 of the Additional Protocol CM 5015 to the Protocol between the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the French Republic concerning Frontier Controls and Policing, Co-operation in Criminal Justice, Public Safety and Mutual Assistance relating to the Channel Fixed Link, Cm 2366, signed at Sangatte on 25 November 1991. It is not explicit in the Belgian agreement.
[9] ICIBI, An Inspection of Juxtaposed Controls, 2013, available here.
[10] Home Office, ‘Immigration system statistics data tables, Passengers refused entry at the border detailed datasets, year ending December 2024′, table Stp_D01, 27 February 2025, available here.
[11] Le Touquet Treaty, article 9, available here.
[12] Le Touquet Treaty, article 9, available here.
[13] Diane Taylor, ‘Concerns raised over due process in case of 11 Albanians flown out of UK’, The Guardian, 18 October 2022, available here.
[14] AP, ‘France, UK sign deal to stop asylum seekers crossing Channel’, Al Jazeera, 14 November 2022, available here.
[15] Melanie Gower, ‘Unauthorised migration: Timeline and overview of UK-French cooperation’, House of Commons Library, 13 February 2026, available here.
[16] 10 Downing Street, ‘UK-France Joint Leaders’ Declaration’, 10 March 2023, available here.
[17] Home Office, ‘New UK-French action to go after smuggler gangs’, 28 February 2025, available here.
[18] Section 24(D1) of the Immigration Act 1971, as amended by the Nationality and Borders Act 2022.
[19] Freedom of Information request, available here.
[20] Victoria Taylor and others, ‘I told them the truth’, Border Criminologies and the Centre for Criminology at the University of Oxford, 2 June 2025, available here (in French and English).
[21] Section 21, which amended section 24 of the Immigration Act 1971.
[22] Home Office, ‘The UK deepens cooperation with France on people smuggling’, 7 March 2025, available here.
[23] Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, International treaty, ‘UK/France: Agreement on the Prevention of Dangerous Journeys [CS France No.2/2025], 3 September 2025, available here.
[24] Home Office, ‘Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: CP 1373’, 5 August 2025, available here.
[25] Immigration Rules, Appendix UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme, available here.
[26] GOV.UK, ‘Register for the UK/European applicant transfer scheme’, accessed 4 February 2026, available here.
[27] Home Office, ‘Guidance: UK/European Applicant Transfer Scheme’, 2 December 2025, available here.
[28] BBC News, ‘UK has removed 281 migrants under France deal, minister says’, 27 January 2026, available here.
[29] Diane Taylor, ‘UK and France asylum deal could violate human rights laws, warns UN’, The Guardian, 6 February 2026, available here.
[30] Diane Taylor, ‘Eighty ‘one in, one out’ asylum seekers accuse UK of degrading treatment’ The Guardian, 5 January 2026, available here.
[31] Medical Justice, ‘Politics over people?’, 21 January 2026, available here.
[32] Government, ‘Home Secretary appoints small boats commander’, August 2020, available here.
[33] Home Office, ‘Leadership of small boats operations returns to the Home Office’, 31 January 2023, available here.
[34] Home Office, ‘New Border Security Commander appointed as Prime Minister’s European reset continues in Italy’, 15 September 2024, available here.
[35] Sections 1 to 12.
[36] Home Affairs Committee, ‘Oral evidence: The work of the Home Office, HC 505’, 17 December 2024, available here.
[37] Nick Eardley and Kate Whannel, ‘Border security chief to step down after 18 months in the job’, BBC News, 20 March 2026, available here.
[38] Home Office, ‘Policy paper: UK-France Joint Leaders’ Declaration’, 10 March 2023, available here.
[39] Home Office, ‘Official Statistics: Irregular migration to the UK, year endings December 2024’, 27 February 2025, available here.
[40] Home Office, ‘Transparency data: Small boat activity in the English Channel’, table SB_02, last updated 22 March 2026, available here.
[41] IOM Missing Migrants Project, accessed 24 March 2024, available here.
[42] Diane Taylor, ‘Record number of children died crossing Channel last year, says UN’, The Guardian, 25 February 2025, available here.
[43] OM Missing Migrants Project, accessed 4 February 2026, available here.
[44] Marine Accident Investigation Branch, ‘Flooding and partial sinking of an inflatable migrant boat with at least 27 lives lost’, 8 November 2023, available here.
[45] Aaron Walawalkar, Harriet Clugston and Mark Townsend, ‘Revealed: UK coastguard downgraded 999 calls from refugees in days before mass drowning’, The Guardian, 4 November 2023, available here.
[46] Department for Transport and Marine Accident Investigation Branch, ‘Inquiry into Channel incident of 24 November 2021’, 9 November 2023, available here.
[47] The Cranston Inquiry, ‘Cranston Inquiry Full Hearings to begin’, 24 February 2025, available here.
[48] The Cranston Inquiry, ‘The Cranston Inquiry Report’, 5 February 2026, available here.
[49] Marine Accident Investigation Branch, ‘Interim report on the investigation of the foundering of an inflatable migrant boat, resulting in the loss of at least 8 lives in the English Channel on 14 December 2022’, December 2023, available here.
[50] Marine Accident Investigation Branch, ‘Flooding and partial sinking of an inflatable migrant boat with the loss of at least 8 lives’, 15 August 2024, available here.
[51] Court of Appeal, Bah v Rex [2024] EWCA Crim 1499, 11 December 2024, available here.
[52] CJ McKinney, Michael Potter and Terry McGuinness, ‘Research briefing: The Common Travel Area and the special status of Irish citizens in UK law’, House of Commons Library, 16 August 2023, available here.
[53] Home Office, ‘Policy paper: Resettlement’, August 2021, available here.
[54] Home Office, ‘Apply for community sponsorship’, 15 September 2025, available here.
[55] Home Office, ‘Immigration system statistics data tables, Resettlement detailed datasets, year ending December 2025’, table Res_D02, available here.
[56] UK government, ‘Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 3: eligibility for British Council and GardaWorld contractors and Chevening Alumni’, 21 August 2024, available here.
[57] Home Office, ‘Immigration system statistics data tables, Resettlement detailed datasets, year ending December 2025’, table Res_D02, available here.
[58] Home Office, ‘Immigration system statistics data tables, Resettlement detailed datasets, year ending December 2025’, table Res_D02, available here.
[59] Home Office, ‘Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data’, 28 November 2024, available here.
[60] As the applicable Immigration Rules are at Appendix FM available here, not Appendix Family Reunion, available here.
[61] Safe Passage, ‘Still Waiting: the Afghans Abandoned by the UK’, 30 October 2024, available here.
[62] Hansard, House of Commons, ‘Afghanistan Volume 771’, 15 July 2025, available here.
[63] Hansard, House of Commons, ‘Afghanistan Volume 771’, 15 July 2025, available here.
[64] Section 61 of the Illegal Migration Act 2023, available here.
[65] Safe and legal routes, available here.
[66] Department of Health and Social Care, ‘First group of Gazan children arrive for specialist NHS treatment’, 17 September 2025, available here.
[67] Home Office, ‘Guidance: Home Office Gaza process version 6’, 24 December 2025, available here.
[68] Home Office, ‘Policy paper: Restoring Order and Control: A statement on the government’s asylum and returns policy’, 21 November 2025, available here.
[69] Home Affairs Committee, ‘Oral evidence: The work of the Home Office, HC 505’, 4 February 2026, available here.
[70] Home Office, ‘How many people claim asylum in the UK’, 26 February 2026, available here.
[71] Home Office, ‘Visa brake: changes to the UK visa system’, 5 March 2026, available here.
[72] Home Office, ‘Statement of changes to the Immigration Rules: HC 1691’, 5 March 2026, available here.
[73] Home Office, ‘Visa brake imposed on 4 countries after widespread visa abuse’, 4 March 2026, available here.
[74] Home Office, ‘Impact Assessment: Visa Brake’, 3 March 2026, available here.
[75] Home Office, ‘Impact Assessment: Visa Brake’, 3 March 2026, available here.
[76] Diane Taylor, ‘Six students challenge Home Office visa ban on four countries’ The Guardian, 23 March 2026, available here.