Migrants laugh in the face of Sir Keir Starmer’s “groundbreaking” migrant deal as they plan to cross the Channel days after its unveiling.
The pilot scheme, which was announced on Thursday by the Prime Minister and French President Emmanuel Macron, is intended to reduce the number of illegal small boat crossings by introducing a “one in, one out” policy.
However, eager migrants in Calais told the Express they are going to “try anyway”, as they boarded buses in life jackets and headed towards the coast in another attempt to reach Britain.
One migrant, who has been living in northern France for five months, told the Express that he had tried to cross the Channel “four or five times” already.
Undeterred by the new policy, he said he plans to try again on Saturday – just 48 hours after the deal concluded.
The Express found migrants set to continue trying to get into the UK (Image: Daily Express)
When asked whether he was aware of the new UK-France scheme, he replied “yeah,” before laughing off the suggestion that it might change his plans.
Express reporter Lotti O’Brien asked: “Has it put you off?” He replied: “No.”
He added that “you’re lucky” if you manage to get on a dinghy to Dover, saying that Britain is his “future”.
Another man, part of a group of Channel migrant hopefuls boarding a bus from Gravelines to Calais, also dismissed the deal.
“We will try anyway,” he stated.
Under the scheme, illegal immigrants arriving in Britain would be returned to France in exchange for asylum seekers with a family connection in the UK.
Bus loads of people who are believed to be migrants were still attempting to get to the UK (Image: Daily Express)
