Britain on Thursday returned the first migrant to France under a new “one-in, one-out” deal, both governments confirmed, as London bids to curb highly contentious cross-Channel small boat arrivals.
The UK interior ministry said it removed the man, who had arrived aboard a small boat in August, on a commercial flight.
The French government also confirmed the removal, with a source telling AFP that London had returned an Indian national.
British interior minister Shabana Mahmood hailed “an important first step to securing our borders”, insisting it sent a message that “if you enter the UK illegally, we will seek to remove you”.
“The UK will always play its part in helping those genuinely fleeing persecution, but this must be done through safe, legal and managed routes — not dangerous crossings,” she said.
Under the scheme, the UK can detain and return small boat migrants arriving across the Channel if they are deemed ineligible for asylum, including those who have passed through a “safe country” to reach UK shores.
In return, London will accept an equal number of migrants from France who can apply for a UK visa via an online platform.
The pilot scheme, which came into force in August, is set to run until June 2026.
Britain’s interior ministry said further removals were expected later this week and next week, while the first legal arrivals from France were expected “in the coming days”.
‘Smash The Gangs’
Embattled Prime Minister Keir Starmer struck the deal with French President Emmanuel Macron in July.
Tens of thousands of migrants have arrived annually on the shores of southeast England in recent years, fuelling domestic anger and the rise of Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK Party.
It has led in the polls in Britain for much of this year.
Anti-immigration demonstrators have massed outside some hotels housing asylum-seekers in recent months, with some gatherings turning violent.
The journeys across one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes have also repeatedly proved fatal for migrants.
At least 23 people have died so far this year in incidents linked to crossings in overcrowded dinghies, according to an AFP tally based on official French data.
Starmer took power in July 2024 vowing to “smash the gangs” behind the journeys, and scrapped a costly scheme planned by the previous Conservative government to send some migrants to Rwanda.
Critics have said ditching that initiative, which the UK Supreme Court ruled illegal and various rights groups had condemned, removed a much-needed deterrent.
‘Cruel’
Thursday’s first removal comes just days after the High Court in London temporarily blocked the planned deportation of an Eritrean migrant, to the ire of the UK government.
Mahmood reiterated she “will continue to challenge any last-minute, vexatious attempts to frustrate a removal in the courts”.
The man had claimed he was a victim of trafficking, and the High Court gave him 14 days to provide proof.
The Home Office was Thursday to apply to the Court of Appeal to cut that deadline.
Meanwhile, the government will launch a “rapid review” of modern anti-slavery legislation “to prevent its misuse”, it said.
More than 90 migrants who recently arrived to the UK on small boats have been detained for deportation to France, according to charities.
France will make its first repatriations to the UK from Saturday, its interior ministry has said.
But French non-governmental organisations working in the sector have criticised that that side of the scheme was largely unworkable.
“The purpose of this agreement is that it does not work,” said Stella Bosc, spokeswoman for L’Auberge des Migrants (“The migrant hostel”). “It’s political posturing”.
UK charities have also condemned the initiative.
The “cruel policy targeting people who come here to seek safety” was a “grim attempt … to appease the racist far-right,” Griff Ferris, of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, said.
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