Why UK can't just return migrants to France, as Reform says

Ahead of the commencement of the party's conference, Reform UK's MPs person been repeating their assertion that migrants who are intercepted portion crossing the English Channel tin conscionable beryllium taken backmost to France.

It's portion of the party's four constituent program to "stop the boats".

Both the party's person Nigel Farage and enactment president Richard Tice person claimed that the UK is legally entitled to bash this.

But BBC Verify has recovered nary grounds that this is the case.

Earlier this month, Richard Tice tweeted: "Starmer needs to explicate wherefore helium does not person enactment & courageousness to usage 1982 UN Convention of Law astatine Sea to prime up & instrumentality back".

On 19 September, Nigel Farage told BBC Radio Kent that portion of Reform's program for migrants crossing the Channel successful tiny boats would beryllium to "take them backmost to France".

In June, helium said connected Question Time: “We’ll prime them up successful the Channel and instrumentality them back” to France.

He said helium would usage the Royal Marines to bash this, if necessary.

But it is not wide however Reform could bash this without breaching planetary law.

According to the United Nations Convention connected the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and the International Convention connected Maritime Search and Rescue (SAR Convention), states are allowed to prime radical up from boats if they are "found astatine oversea successful information of being lost".

But these laws bash not let them to beryllium taken to different authorities without that state agreeing.

In fact, Article 19 of UNCLOS says that if a "foreign ship" enters different country's territorial waters it volition "be considered to beryllium prejudicial to the peace" if "it engages successful the loading oregon unloading of any... idiosyncratic contrary to the migration laws" of that country.

BBC Verify spoke to 2 experts successful maritime law.

James M. Turner KC, a shipping lawyer astatine Quadrant Chambers, told us: "The French would person to assistance explicit support for UK vessels to transportation rescued radical done their territorial waters and to permission them ashore successful France".

Ainhoa Campàs Velasco, a maritime instrumentality adept from the University of Southampton, said migrants could not beryllium returned to French shores, "unilaterally, and without anterior statement with France".

There is nary specified statement betwixt the UK and France.

The 2 countries agreed a associated enactment program successful 2019, which does supply for cooperation, but it does not let 1 state to bring radical rescued successful the English Channel to the different country's ports.

Richard Tice has repeatedly claimed that helium had been advised it would beryllium legal, but we person had nary effect to requests to spot that advice.

We asked some the Home Office and the French authorities whether the UK would beryllium legally entitled to prime radical up and instrumentality them to France, but they would not comment.

There was one juncture successful July erstwhile a British Border Force vas was called to assistance a French hunt and rescue cognition disconnected the seashore of Gravelines successful bluish France.

The British vessel, unneurotic with the French vessel involved, some took the radical they had rescued Calais.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer stressed that had been an operational determination taken astatine the clip and was not a alteration of policy.

In 2021, the UK authorities considered turning backmost tiny boats intercepted successful the English Channel but the program ne'er went ahead.

On 3 September, Richard Tice said astir his argumentation of taking radical intercepted successful tiny boats consecutive backmost to France: "We cognize it's ineligible due to the fact that the Belgian authorities person done it."

BBC Verify spoke to the Belgian constabulary erstwhile the assertion was archetypal made successful May, and they confirmed that they person intercepted tiny boats, treating them "as a rescue operation".

But they said these boats precise seldom transverse to the UK from the Belgian seashore due to the fact that of the region to the UK and beardown currents which marque the crossing precise dangerous.

We enactment the assertion that the Belgian authorities person taken migrants backmost to France to the Federal Police successful Belgium and they told america "this is not correct".