The UK and France have been forced to revise their 'one in, one out' migration treaty after concerns emerged that migrants removed to France under the deal were re-entering the UK via lorries. The original agreement, signed last July, allowed the UK to return small boat arrivals to France in exchange for accepting an equal number of asylum seekers from France.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood and French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez agreed to amend the treaty to include a new category of 'returnee case', allowing previously deported migrants who return to Britain by lorry to be sent back to France again. The move aims to close a loophole exploited by people smugglers.
Since the treaty took effect on 6 August last year, the UK has removed 921 migrants who arrived on small boats to France, representing 3.5% of all such arrivals. In return, the UK has accepted 896 asylum seekers from France. However, at least four individuals deported under the scheme returned to the UK by lorry in March, following at least two in the autumn.
In a letter to Nuñez, Mahmood proposed adding the objective of deterring clandestine returns to the UK by individuals previously transferred under the agreement. The treaty, initially a pilot due to end on 11 June, has been extended until 1 October. Channel crossings this year have fallen by about a third compared to last year, partly due to weather.
A Home Office spokesperson stated: 'Under our returns agreement with France, we have already removed more than 900 illegal migrants from British soil. This contributes to the nearly 70,000 illegal migrants who have been returned from July 2024 to March 31, 2026, up 41% on the 21 months prior.'
