UK-France 'one in, one out' Channel migrant deal to end in October
According to French reports, the bilateral migration agreement between the UK and France will end in October. Critics have called the scheme inhumane and unjust.
The 'one in, one out' agreement between the UK and France on cross-Channel migration is set to end in October, according to French media reports. Under the deal, asylum seekers arriving in the UK by small boat could be forcibly returned to France, while others in France who had not attempted the crossing would be brought to the UK legally.
NGOs and asylum seekers have criticised the arrangement as unjust due to an apparently random selection process and as inhumane, with some returned individuals claiming their lives have been threatened by people smugglers based in northern France. Doctors Without Borders has condemned the scheme as “a cynical bargaining over human lives”, providing assistance to those sent back and reporting cases of acute stress disorder and disorientation.
Le Monde, citing a French interior ministry source, reported that the agreement will not be renewed beyond October. Instead, an action plan announced by the European Commission on 18 June aims to replace the bilateral approach with a coordinated EU-level response. The UK Home Office has welcomed the EU plan, stating it sets out a more coordinated response to Channel crossings.
Home Office data shows that between last September and 9 June this year, 921 asylum seekers were returned to France, while 896 were brought to the UK legally. Between 15 and 22 June, 1,939 asylum seekers arrived in the UK on small boats. A Home Office spokesperson said the agreement had been extended into the autumn to ensure continued removals over the summer.
Critics have questioned whether the deal has acted as the deterrent hoped by Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced the “groundbreaking” agreement with Emmanuel Macron last July. The Telegraph reports that people smugglers in France are now taking detours, making journeys up to 80 miles — about four times the shortest Channel crossing. Some returned asylum seekers have told The Guardian they received little support in France, with some threatened with deportation to Syria. Others have returned to the UK a second time by lorry or boat, leading to a policy amendment this month allowing France to accept back some who re-entered by lorry.
