Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on July 10, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleMacron criticizes Brexit for failing UK border controls as illegal Channel crossings reach record highs, highlighting migration issues.
PARIS (Reuters) -Record illegal migrant crossings across the English Channel this year showed Brexit had failed to deliver on a British promise of tighter border controls, said French President Emmanuel Macron, adding that British people had been 'sold a lie.'
Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Thursday a pilot programme to return migrants arriving in small boats.
Macron added that Britain's departure from the European Union meant the lack of formal agreements with the EU on migration was actually encouraging people to make those crossings over the Channel.
"The current situation is actually giving an incentive to make the crossing. And this is therefore the exact opposite of what Brexit had proposed and promised," said Macron on Thursday.
"The thing is, the British people were sold a lie, which was that they were told the problem was Europe but by creating this legal void, the problem has become Brexit."
Official UK data published earlier this month showed nearly 20,000 asylum seekers had arrived in Britain on small boats so far in 2025, marking a record high for the first six months of the year.
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Richard Lough, Peter Graff and Richard Chang)
Macron stated that record illegal migrant crossings this year indicate that Brexit has failed to fulfill its promise of tighter border controls.
Macron and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced a pilot programme aimed at returning migrants who arrive in small boats.
Macron explained that Britain's departure from the EU has resulted in a lack of formal agreements on migration, which encourages more crossings over the Channel.
Official UK data revealed that nearly 20,000 asylum seekers arrived in Britain on small boats in the first six months of 2025, marking a record high.
Macron suggested that the British people were misled into believing that the problem was Europe, but the legal void created by Brexit has exacerbated the issue.
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