UK-France Cooperation on Border Control: Efficacy, Deterrence and Human Rights

The UK and France have worked together to jointly control their borders since the authorisation for construction of the Channel Tunnel in 1986. In the past 20 years, this cooperation has been significantly reinforced and expanded upon. The UK and France have engaged in an array of measures to achieve their aim of preventing ‘irregular’ migration from France to the UK. This includes the establishment of joint mechanisms to police and securitise the northern French coast, joint surveillance operations and the expansion of British-run detention facilities. This paper demonstrates that cooperation between the UK and France has not been successful in achieving its aims of preventing and deterring ‘irregular’ migrants from entering the UK. The measures taken under this cooperation create and reinforce harmful conditions for asylum seekers. I argue that the only way in which bilateral cooperation externalisation policies like those between the UK and France can achieve their aims is through the violation of the human rights of asylum seekers. Furthermore, I contend that the cooperation between the UK and France should partially be seen as a political façade, which demonstrates to the British public that the government is taking strong action against ‘irregular’ migration.