UK ends 'one in, one out' migrant returns deal with France

Key Points:

• The UK's Home Office announced the end of its year-old "one in, one out" migrant return deal with France, which allowed Britain to return some migrants arriving illegally by small boats in exchange for accepting an equal number of asylum seekers from France.
• Between August 2025 and June 2026, only about 4% of the nearly 28,000 migrants arriving in the UK via small boats were returned to France, highlighting the scheme's limited impact despite government claims it would deter people-smuggling.
• The operation, costing the UK an average of £56,000 per returned migrant, faced challenges including reduced cooperation with the EU post-Brexit, according to Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who emphasized a new approach combining tougher enforcement and safe legal routes for asylum seekers.
• French officials have called for a more European-wide strategy on illegal migration, criticizing France's disproportionate responsibility for policing the EU's external border and pointing to weak controls elsewhere in the Schengen area.
• Since the Channel route became prominent, approximately 197,000 migrants have crossed in small boats, with recent shifts in launch points including a rise in departures from Belgium as smuggling networks adapt.