UK: Government announces additional police in Northern France following more crossings, rescues and deaths in Channel ― Almost 100 children detained under ‘One in, one out’ Channel scheme ― Polling suggests British public wants ‘more constructive debate’ on asylum ― New parliamentary report reveals that 40 children missing from asylum hotels still not found | European Council on Refugees and Exiles (ECRE)

The government has announced an increase in the number of French police officers dealing with small boat crossings.
Almost 100 children have been wrongly identified and detained as adults under the UK’s agreement with France aimed at preventing people from crossing the Channel in small boats.
The findings of a recent survey have suggested that British people want a more constructive debate on asylum in the UK.
A new parliamentary report has revealed that 40 children who were reported missing from asylum hotels in the UK in 2023 have still not been found.

The government has announced an increase in the number of French police officers dealing with small boat crossings. On 2 September, Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s office stated that the number of officers would increase to almost 1,050, including a “specialist 75-person team to seize equipment and arrest smugglers on land” an expanded “intelligence unit” and 45 others to be “deployed to the west coast”. The announcement came after numerous crossings, rescues and deaths in the Channel in recent weeks. On 28 August, the French Maritime Prefecture for the Channel and the North Sea reported that it had rescued 81 people and that one person had died in three separate incidents in the previous 48 hours. On 18 August, it reported that it had rescued 96 people whose boat had suffered engine failure in the morning of 17 August. On 10 August, a small boat crossed the Channel carrying a record 230 people and, on 4 August, 173 people were rescued from a boat that caught fire. At the end of July, one man died after a boat capsized off the French coast and three others were found dead in a boat 100km further north on a day on which 752 people arrived in the UK.

Almost 100 children have been wrongly identified and detained as adults under the UK’s agreement with France aimed at preventing people from crossing the Channel in small boats. On 13 August, the Guardian newspaper reported information from the UK Home Office (Ministry of the Interior) which revealed that “of 304 age-disputed cases arising from the scheme over nine months, 94 (31%) – were ultimately found to be minors”. It added that children were supposed to be excluded from the scheme and that the immigration detention of unaccompanied children was limited to 24 hours under government policy. The figures were included in a letter from Interim Chair of Independent Monitoring Boards (IMB) Jane Leech to Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum Anna Turley in which Leech wrote that “The IMB is (…) concerned that child safeguarding mechanisms are ineffective, and believes more should be done to ensure that those whose age is under dispute are not detained in the first place”. “Many of those who have recently arrived present as psychologically distressed, and Boards have observed records and heard testimonies showing that many are survivors of torture and abuse,” she added. Commenting on the letter, Imran Hussain from the Refugee Council said: “Too often, refugee children are being treated as adults and put into unsafe situations, at risk of abuse and neglect, and exposed to significant safeguarding risks”. He also urged the government to “prioritise professional assessments led by trained social workers, which has been found to be the most accurate way to determine age and therefore avoid these risks”.

The findings of a recent survey have suggested that British people want a more constructive debate on asylum in the UK. According to ECRE member organisation the International Rescue Committee (IRC) which commissioned the YouGov polling in early July, 76% of respondents felt that it was important to “distinguish refugees fleeing war, persecution or serious danger from the wider migration debate”, 59% felt that “too much attention is paid to how refugees arrive in the UK and not enough to why they are coming here”, 63% are “sympathetic towards refugees fleeing war, persecution or serious danger” and 53% are proud of Britain’s history of offering asylum to people fleeing war, persecution or serious danger” (34% said that they were “not proud”). Commenting on the results, IRC UK Executive Director Flora Alexander said: “Too often, the debate on refugees in the UK begins and ends with how people arrive. This polling suggests the public wants a more constructive conversation – one that addresses why people are forced to flee, and focuses on solutions that work,” adding: “When the public only hears about arrivals, numbers and pressure, the human reality of displacement is lost. That does not help people seeking safety, and it does not help the public understand how a fair and effective system can respond”.

A new parliamentary report has revealed that 40 children who were reported missing from asylum hotels in the UK in 2023 have still not been found. According to the report, which was published by the Joint Committee on Human Rights on 27 August, 472 children had gone missing and 432 had since been located. In a 2025 letter to the committee, then Minister of State for Border Security and Asylum Angela Eagle wrote that some of the children had been found in “exploitative situations and may have been trafficked or victims of other forms of exploitation”. The Committee has called on the Home Office to “make clear what specific action is being taken to locate these children, to investigate the causes for them going missing, and to avoid unaccompanied asylum-seeking children going missing in the future”. Commenting on the report, the head of the NGO Every Child Protected Against Trafficking UK, Patricia Durr, said: “The government cannot allow the disappearance [of children] to fade from public scrutiny. It is a significant child protection failure and we strongly support the committee’s call for regular public reporting and greater transparency about what is being done to find those who remain missing, understand why so many children disappeared, and ensure this can never happen again”.

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