A second man who had previously been removed to France under the UK–France “one in, one out” arrangement has reached the UK again, the Home Office said. He was among an estimated nearly 400 people who crossed the Channel in small boats on Sunday.
Biometric checks carried out by the Home Office identified him as one of 94 people sent to France under the treaty in the past two months. He was detained on arrival and the department said he would be returned to France “as quickly as possible.”
He is the second person to return after removal, following an Iranian man who arrived on 18 October; that man had been among the first removed under the deal less than a month earlier.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Anyone looking to return to the UK after being removed under the UK–France agreement is wasting their time and money. This individual was detected by biometrics and detained immediately. His case will be expedited, and he will be returned to France as quickly as possible. The message is clear: if you try to return to the UK you will be sent back. We will do whatever it takes to scale up removals of illegal migrants and secure our borders.”
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, criticised the government’s handling of the situation, saying it was “mired in migrant chaos and has clearly lost control of our borders.” He argued that, since the French returns deal was announced, only a handful have been returned to France while about 20,000 people have arrived — “99.5% are being allowed to stay and only 0.5% returned to France,” he said.
The Home Office has not confirmed the exact number who arrived on Sunday but estimates put it at nearly 400. Those crossings followed 1,772 people who came in 25 boats on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, as people smugglers took advantage of calmer Channel conditions.
Under the “one in, one out” scheme, UK officials detain some arrivals and send them back to France; in exchange, the UK accepts an asylum seeker from France who can demonstrate family connections in Britain. The deal was announced in July by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron. Speaking then, Starmer said: “There is no silver bullet here, but with a united effort, new tactics and a new level of intent, we can finally turn the tables.”
