UK Government Withdraws Plan to Push Back Migrant Boats in the English Channel

A group of people on board the Dover lifeboat following a small boat incident in the English Channel are brought in to Dover, Kent, England, on Nov. 11, 2021. Gareth Fuller/PA

The UK government has abandoned its plan to turn migrant small boats back to the French side of the English Channel ahead of a judicial review of the policy.

Campaign groups that were challenging the tactic said on Monday that it was informed by the government’s legal department that the policy had been withdrawn by the Home Office.