Almost 50 asylum seekers who were previously deported from the UK under the “one in one out” scheme have been recorded returning to the country a second time, according to figures reported by Theguardian. In addition to those individuals detained by the Home Office, an unknown number of other returnees are believed to have arrived back in the UK undetected.
Nearly 50 Deported Asylum Seekers Return to the UK
The “one in one out” arrangement began last September with the aim of deterring migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats. Under the bilateral treaty, the UK government returns people arriving on small boats to France in exchange for a similar number of asylum seekers being brought to the UK legally. The first recorded instance of an asylum seeker returning to the UK a second time occurred last October, a few weeks after being forcibly sent back to France.
Scale of the Scheme and Policy Adjustments
Official data indicates that approximately 4% of small boat arrivals have been returned to France under the deal. According to the Home Office, as of 30 June 2026, a total of 1,117 individuals had been transferred to the UK, while 1,087 individuals had been returned to France.
In response to individuals coming back across the Channel, officials stated that the treaty between the UK and France has been amended so that second-time returnees will once again be sent back to France. A Home Office spokesperson warned that anyone attempting to return to the UK after being removed under the agreement is wasting their time and money and will face removal once more. The spokesperson added that under the payment-by-results returns agreement with France, authorities have removed more than 1,000 migrants from British soil.
Meanwhile, broader cross-Channel statistics show that small boat crossings have decreased by about 43% so far this year. Officials attribute this drop to multiple factors, including bad weather, a general reduction of about one-third in migrants arriving in Europe overall, and joint enforcement efforts by UK and French authorities to disrupt people-smuggling networks.
High Court Ruling on Trafficking Claims
In a separate legal development, a High Court judge ordered the Home Office to bring an alleged trafficking victim back to the UK after he was forcibly removed to France under the scheme. Mr Justice Sheldon quashed a Home Office policy change that had refused asylum seekers the right to have their trafficking claims reconsidered following an initial rejection, stating that he quashed it so that it is as if it never happened.
The affected individual, an asylum seeker from Sudan and a survivor of torture who was removed on 27 November 2025, is one of five people who challenged the home secretary’s policy change. A second asylum seeker involved in the legal challenge will have his trafficking case reconsidered in France and may also be brought back depending on the outcome. The High Court has granted both the Home Office and the asylum seekers permission to appeal various points in the judgment.
Reasons for Return and Legal Criticisms
While the rationale for the deportations is that France is a safe country, asylum seekers who made their way back to the UK have cited severe safety concerns. Many reported facing threats from people smugglers in France or fearing that French authorities would deport them to their home countries or to transit nations where they were previously fingerprinted.
Legal representatives and advocacy groups have raised serious concerns regarding the treatment of removed individuals. Emily Soothill of Deighton Pierce Glynn welcomed the High Court decision, calling it a highly significant ruling for vulnerable victims of trafficking and torture. Elizabeth Cole, a solicitor at Duncan Lewis, noted that the court’s decision questions the lawfulness of previous removals under the UK-France treaty where negative reasonable grounds decisions or rejections of reconsideration were issued.
Conversely, advocates like Griff Ferris of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants argued that people fleeing war, persecution, and climate destruction are forced into dangerous Channel crossings because formal pathways remain restricted, advocating instead for open access to safe routes such as daily ferries between Calais and Dover.
