The UK-France “one in, one out” Channel migrant agreement is no longer accepting new cases after France decided not to renew the pilot beyond 1 October.
The Home Office has confirmed that no new arrivals are being entered into the scheme, bringing an end to a central element of the Government’s attempt to return people who cross the English Channel in small boats directly to France.
However, removals have not stopped immediately. People who were already detained and entered into the process before the agreement ended can still be returned to France under the existing arrangements.
France refuses to renew migrant deal
The pilot allowed the UK to return eligible migrants who arrived in Britain by small boat to France. In exchange, Britain accepted an equivalent number of people through a controlled legal route.
France decided not to extend the bilateral arrangement beyond its 1 October expiry, favouring a broader European approach to migration instead.
The decision means new small-boat arrivals can no longer be placed into the bilateral return scheme.
Nearly 1,000 returned to France
Home Office figures cited by Reuters show that, at the latest reporting point, 951 people had been returned from Britain to France under the agreement.
Over the same period, 935 people had been admitted to the UK through the reciprocal legal route.
Figures reported elsewhere have differed because of different reporting dates and stages of the programme. The numbers therefore need to be read with their respective reporting cut-offs rather than treated as a single final total for the scheme.
Existing removals can continue
The end of the pilot does not mean every case already under way has been cancelled.
The Home Office has said flights can continue for people who were already detained and entered into the process before the scheme stopped accepting new cases.
The material change from 1 October is that new arrivals are no longer being accepted into the “one in, one out” system.
Government wanted scheme to continue
The UK Government had sought to continue the arrangement.
A British government source quoted by AFP acknowledged that the scheme had “not reach[ed] our desired scale”, while saying the UK would have preferred the agreement to continue.
French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez had previously indicated that France would not renew the bilateral pilot, arguing instead for migration arrangements to be dealt with at a wider European level.
Blow to Government's Channel strategy
The agreement had formed part of the Government’s strategy for deterring small-boat crossings by demonstrating that people arriving illegally could be returned directly to France.
Its expiry removes the route for placing new arrivals into that bilateral returns process, although the Government retains other immigration enforcement and removal powers.
The precise impact on future Channel crossings remains uncertain. Claims that ending or maintaining the scheme would necessarily increase or reduce crossings are political and policy assessments rather than established outcomes.