UK Scraps 1,500-Return France Migrant Deal as Channel Crossings Fall 42%
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Sep 30
UK Scraps 1,500-Return France Migrant Deal as Channel Crossings Fall 42%
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Sep 30
Summary
New cases under the UK-France “one in, one out” migrant scheme have stopped, ending a pilot that let Britain return some small-boat arrivals to France while accepting the same number of legal entrants.
Only about 1,500 people were removed in just over a year, and the government concluded the scheme could not be scaled to the level it wanted despite wanting it to continue.
Home Office flights to France will continue for the coming weeks, and ministers said lessons from the pilot would be used to speed returns of migrants with no right to remain.
Shabana Mahmood told MPs earlier this month that weekly removals at much larger volumes were operationally difficult, though the scheme may have deterred some crossings.
Channel crossings total 19,135 so far this year, down 42% from 32,188 in the same period of 2025, while France said it is discussing exit terms with Britain.
After the High Court ruled rapid deportations unlawful, how will the UK address the trafficking survivors and children already wrongfully expelled to France?
With the UK spending £56,000 per migrant for a failed scheme, what hidden costs will taxpayers face as smuggling gangs adapt to mega-dinghies?
If bilateral border deals are dead, what radical EU-wide strategy can actually dismantle the billion-dollar criminal logistics hubs thriving deep inside Germany?