Overview

• Negotiators are finalizing a bilateral exchange under which each Channel migrant returned to France would be matched by an asylum seeker admitted from France through family reunification.
• Talks have centered on the percentage of migrants to be swapped, with sources indicating a deadlock over the proposed one-in, one-out ratio.
• France has agreed for the first time to intercept small migrant boats at sea and to accept returns of Channel arrivals under the pilot scheme.
• Five EU member states, including Greece, Malta and Cyprus, have lodged objections with the European Commission over procedural issues and potential implications for other first-entry countries.
• Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp has branded the proposal a “gimmick” even as the UK government insists it will strengthen Franco-British cooperation and undercut smuggling networks.