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A man deported to France under the UK’s landmark “one-in, one-out” scheme has returned to Britain on a small boat, in a blow to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s efforts to curb illegal migration.
The Home Office on Wednesday confirmed that the migrant had been detained after crossing the English Channel for a second time, shortly after he had been removed to France.
The government is attempting to expedite his case for removal, according to people familiar with the matter. They added that the man was an Iranian national who arrived in the UK on August 6 and was deported on September 19, before returning on October 18.
“We will not accept any abuse of our borders, and we will do everything in our power to remove those without the legal right to be here,” the Home Office said in a statement. “Individuals who are returned under the pilot and subsequently attempt to re-enter the UK illegally will be removed.”
The UK’s controversial one-in, one-out scheme with France came into force in August and is designed to dent the attractiveness of small boat crossings, which have soared up the political agenda in recent months.
Starmer’s government is struggling to halt the record number of small boat crossings from France this year as it seeks to fend off Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration Reform UK, which is leading national opinion polls.
More than 36,000 people have arrived in the UK by small boat so far this year, close to the total for all of last year.
Farage said on X that the incident “shows Keir Starmer’s one in, one out policy is a total abject failure”.
Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative party, said on X that the government was “too weak to take the tough decisions to secure our borders”, adding: “Does that mean we now have to take two people from France to return him?”
Under the one-in, one-out scheme, which Starmer signed with French President Emmanuel Macron, people detained after crossing on small boats will be returned to France in return for an asylum seeker judged to have a better chance of making a successful claim.
On Sunday, the Home Office said the total number of returns under the treaty had reached 42 since its launch, with 16 deported in the past week — the largest group flight yet.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has vowed to “scale up removals to France” under the scheme and claimed the initiative will send a “warning to those considering entering this country illegally”.
According to the Guardian, which first reported the Iranian national’s return to the UK, the man says he is a victim of modern slavery at the hands of smugglers in France.
“If I had felt that France was safe for me I would never have returned to the UK,” he told the newspaper.
