The UK has ended its ‘one in, one out’ migrant returns pilot agreement with France, with the Home Office confirming that no new cases will be processed under the scheme.
The agreement allowed some migrants arriving in the UK by small boat to be returned to France while the UK accepted an equal number of eligible asylum seekers through legal routes.
Key developments:
- Home Office said return flights for previously approved cases will continue.
- France is discussing the agreement’s conclusion and has favoured a broader EU-UK approach to irregular migration.
- UK officials said cooperation with France on tackling English Channel crossings will continue.
Official figures showed that by 30 June 2026, 1,087 people had been returned from the UK to France under the pilot, while 1,117 eligible asylum seekers had been transferred to the UK through legal routes. During the same period, 27,920 people arrived in the UK by small boat across the English Channel, meaning those returned under the scheme represented around 4% of all recorded arrivals.
Geopolitically, the pilot demonstrated continued UK-France cooperation on border security following Brexit, but its limited scale reinforced French calls for a broader EU-UK migration framework. The agreement’s conclusion highlights the challenge of balancing national border policies with cross-border responsibility-sharing on irregular migration.
ℹ️ Euronews, BBC News, Reuters
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UK ends ‘one in, one out’ migrant returns deal with France