War of words erupts over Britain’s plea for post-Brexit migrant return deal

A war of words has erupted following claims that the EU has rejected Rishi Sunak’s plea for a post-Brexit asylum seeker returns deal to ease the small boats crisis.

It was claimed that a senior European Commission official told the UK’s national security adviser earlier this year that there was no prospect of such an agreement.

But an EU Commission spokesperson rubbished reports on Tuesday as “not correct”. A UK government spokeswoman insisted that No 10 remains “open to working with the EU to take forward negotiations on a UK-EU returns deal”.

It sparked a row among Tory MPs, as Brexiteers lashed out at the “immoral” EU for failing to help tackle the Channel crossings, while moderate Tories urged Mr Sunak to forge a returns deal so Britain can work more closely with its nearest neighbours.

Return agreements are viewed by some as key to solving the migrant crisis and the PM still hopes to strike a deal with the EU Commission that would allow Britain to return people to European countries where they have previously claimed asylum or have links to.

The Times and the Daily Mail both reported that notes of a meeting between German politician Bjoern Seibert, Ursula Von der Leyen’s head of cabinet, and Sir Tim Barrow, Britain’s national security adviser, made clear the that the EU Commission was not interested in a deal.

An internal British government memo reportedly read: “[Mr Seibert] stressed that the commission is not open to a UK-EU readmissions agreement.”

But the EU has denied the reports. A spokesperson said: “The report is not correct, [Mr Seibert] never said that. It was an internal meeting and I checked directly with the source and he never said that.”

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Robert Buckland, the former justice secretary, told The Independent that a returns deal “could make a huge difference”, he said: “The government is right to keep pursuing it. Until we get a genuine sharing of obligations, we’re going to struggle on small boats.”

Britain remains hampered by the loss of the EU’s so-called Dublin regulation – which allowed irregular migrants to be returned to the nation of first arrival – after Brexit. But it was not seen as effective, with only 105 UK requests to return migrants to the EU were accepted in the year before Brexit.

A new agreement between the two parties would require Britain to share Europe’s burden of resettling hundreds of thousands of migrants entering the bloc through irregular means.

Mr Buckland said MPs on the right would have to accept that an extensive deal with the EU could mean the UK agreeing to accept a certain amount of eligible refugees who inside the bloc – allowing for more family reunions with asylum seekers in the UK.

He added: “It will need a new kind of bilateral deal because the Dublin convention wasn’t really working. Why can’t work together on this? I hope the government won’t close its mind, and the EU shouldn’t close its either.”

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David Lidington, the former de facto deputy PM, encouraged Mr Sunak to push for an agreement with the EU Commission. “There has to be international cooperation to manage this problem,” he told The Independent.

The former cabinet minister, a leading Remain campaigner, also urged Brexiteers to back a returns deal. “European countries need to find ways of working more closely together. I hope others in the party realise that’s in the national interest to work with others.”

However, Tory Brexiteers lashed out at the EU after the apparent rejection of a returns deal – with right-wing Peter Bones saying it showed “incompetent and immoral the EU are on this issue, because they are allowing [small boat crossings] to happen”.

David Jones, the deputy leader of the European Research Group of staunch Brexiteers, told The Independent that he suspected Brussels would refuse a deal because the UK had “the temerity to leave the EU”.

The ex-Tory minister said France was the big barrier to an agreement. “They are being awkward about this. Their unwillingness to cooperate is the principle problem.”

Asked if he would welcome a returns deal, Mr Jones said: “Yes, I would. But if we don’t get anywhere with them soon, then we have to look at other ways to manage small boats – including disapplying the ECHR [European Convention in domestic legislation.”

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Labour has also said it will seek to negotiate a new returns agreement with the EU if it wins the next election. But French president Emmanuel Macron had already rejected a bilateral deal with the UK and insisted that any agreement must be made on an EU-wide basis.

At a summit of the Council of Europe in Reykjavik, Iceland, in May, Mr Sunak appeared to win the backing of Von der Leyen for a deal that would see the two parties work more closely together on illegal migration, including a returns deal.

The UK already has returns agreements with Iraq, Albania, Vietnam and Pakistan – described by the government as “four high volume countries for small boat arrivals”. A deal was also signed with Georgia in January.

The fresh war of words broke out just days after six people died after their boat capsized in the Channel after setting off from France. Dozens of people were rescued in an operation involving French and British authorities after a boat got into difficulty in the water on Saturday morning.

Some 111 people were detected crossing the English Channel in small boats on Monday, the Home Office said. The cumulative number of arrivals by small boats in 2023 now stands at a provisional total of 16,790. Total arrivals last year were 45,755.

Will Quince, the UK’s health minister, said the UK was taking a number of steps to tackle illegal immigration. “If you look at the details of the discussions that we do have with Turkey, with Albania and indeed the French, they are starting to bear fruit and then more widely if you look at the deterrent factor, again that is making a difference.”