An asylum seeker who was sent from the UK back to France under the controversial "one in, one out" refugee scheme has covertly returned to Britain and is now living in hiding, the Guardian has learned. In what is believed to be the first interview with a returnee living under the radar in the UK, the man described his situation as "desperate" and revealed that he is aware of at least 18 other individuals who have similarly returned clandestinely.
Return to the UK via Lorry
The man, who made his way back to the UK hidden in a lorry, recounted his ordeal after being forcibly removed by the Home Office. "After I was sent back to France by the Home Office, the smugglers caught me and wanted to force me to work with them," he said. "I don't want to work with the smugglers and I refused to do so. They beat me so badly that my face is still full of bruises and injuries. I managed to escape from them and felt that my only option was to come back to the UK, which is a safer place for me."
Smugglers Adapt Business Model
The "one in, one out" scheme, agreed between the UK and France, aims to deter small boat crossings and dismantle people-smuggling networks. However, thousands of asylum seekers have continued to cross the Channel, and smugglers have adapted their operations. They now launch more vessels from Belgium and offer more expensive lorry journeys to bypass police on French beaches. The man explained: "The price for a small boat Channel crossing is €1,000 to 2,000, while the price for a lorry to the UK is €4,000 to 5,000." He added that he believes many others have returned via lorries: "I don't know exactly how many people sent back to France under one in, one out have returned to UK and are now living underground, but I know of 18."
Living in Fear and Isolation
The returnee, who is staying in a city outside London, said he rarely leaves the room where a friend has offered him shelter. "I'm scared to leave this room," he confessed. "I'm running from the smugglers, the police and the Home Office. I don't have a life any more and I don't have a plan." He expressed fear of being sent back to France again, where he believes the smugglers would kill him for escaping. "I keep thinking about handing myself into the police, but if I do that and the Home Office sends me back to France again I am sure the smugglers will kill me if they find me, because I ran away from them." He stressed that he wants to live peacefully and work legally in the UK, but the current immigration rules may force people like him into illegality to survive.
Home Office Unaware of Departures
In a separate case, an asylum seeker who smuggled himself out of the UK in January after living here for over a decade, fearing detention and deportation, recently received an email from the Home Office showing no awareness that he had left. The man, now living in Italy, said the message warned of enforcement action for failing to stay in touch and offered help with voluntary return to his home country from the UK. "It is crazy to receive this from the Home Office," he said. "They do not realise I am no longer in the UK. I would love to return to the UK legally, but there is no way for me to do that at the moment."
Criticism of Border Policy
Seema Syeda from the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants criticised the government's approach: "The government's border regime is pushing people into unsafe routes and criminalising people. The simple, moral answer is to allow people seeking safety to use the same routes as everyone else: train, ferry, plane. Public money would be put to better use improving public services and addressing the cost-of-living crisis, not on an inhuman and degrading border regime aimed at appeasing a small but vocal minority of far-right political groups."
Home Office Response
A Home Office spokesperson defended the policy: "Anyone looking to return to the UK after being removed under the UK-France agreement is wasting their time and money. They will be removed again. Under this government, enforcement is up, asylum decision-making is up, removals are up and the backlogs and hotel use are coming down. Twenty twenty-five was a record year for tackling organised immigration crime, with disruptions up by more than a third on 2024. Under our returns agreement with France, we have deported more than 600 illegal migrants from British soil."
The revelations highlight the ongoing challenges and unintended consequences of the UK's immigration policies, as individuals caught in the system resort to dangerous and clandestine measures to find safety.
