I am ex-Border Force – these 5 things must be done for Channel crossings to finally end | UK | News

A former Border Force chief has outlined a five-point plan to solve the UK’s ongoing migrant problem. Tony Smith has warned that the crisis could spiral out of control if the Government doesn’t take a new approach.

A total of 41,472 small boat migrants arrived in the UK in 2025. It marks the second-highest year on record after 45,774 made the dangerous crossing in 2022. Mr Smith, the ex-director general of the UK Border Force, is now urging Sir Keir Starmer to take a “hardball” approach to prevent more men, women and children from making the high-risk journey from France to the UK via the Channel.

As reported by The Sun, he expects the situation to worsen without “significant change”. Mr Smith added that further records would have been broken last year if it wasn’t for the bad weather in November and December which prevented boats from making the journey.

Here are the five things he says must be done in order to stop Channel crossings.

Mr Smith suggests a “removals strategy” which will see arrivals from “safe countries” fast-tracked home. These nations include the lines of India, Turkey, Vietnam and Pakistan.

The strategy will give the Government powers to detain and remove people. They will be able to restrict asylum claims, limit appeals and remove individuals from the UK.

It would mean deals similar to the 2023 Albanian agreement which allows those coming from the Balkan nation to be fast-tracked back. Mr Smith said: “These countries are not renowned for persecuting people – that’s how we got the Albania deal, they guaranteed they won’t persecute anybody.”

With category A countries, such as Syria and Afghanistan, Mr Smith says “you’d need a safe option”. This includes the introduction of the Rwanda Plan or something similar.

The controversial policy proposed sending asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing. It was launched by the Conservative Government in 2022 but faced major legal challenges.

However, Labour declared it “dead and buried” on its first day in office in July 24. The plan was then officially scrapped in December last year.

Mr Smith believes a change in Prime Minister is crucial to stop border crossings into the UK. He said “someone like Tony Abbott in Australia” could be what Britain needs.

Mr Smith explained: “Someone saying – no, sorry, I am here to serve the British people and I’ve had enough of this, and I’m going to close the border and I’m not going to let people in here to claim asylum and I’m going to send these people back to these countries and if they want to play hard ball with me I’m going to play hard ball with them.”

In order to resolve the migrant crisis, the UK must get out of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) – Article 3, according to Mr Smith. The article currently prevents Britain from automatically sending people claiming asylum back home.

However, to leave the ECHR, the UK would need to notify the Council of Europe with six months’ notice. The move would also need the approval of Parliament.

Mr Smith said the UK’s strategy for the last 40 years “has been to stop people getting in” through various strategies. However, he now urges the Government to make a change.

He explained: “You’ve got to be tough and you’ve got to detain and deport.”