The UK’s one-in-one out returns deal with France is set to begin in a matter of days, the government has announced, as pressure piles on ministers to take further action to stop people from making the dangerous journey across the Channel.
The agreement, announced by the prime minister in a joint press conference with Emmanuel Macron last month, means that for each small boat migrant sent back across the English Channel, an asylum seeker will be allowed to enter the UK from France under a legal route.
At the time, Sir Keir Starmer said it was a “breakthrough moment” which would “turn the tables” on the people smugglers who bring them here.
The treaty was ratified on Monday, meaning that anyone entering the UK on a small boat can be detained immediately on arrival and returned to France by the UK government – with the Home Office expecting detentions to begin within days.
The EU Commission, Germany and other member states have also given the green light to the agreement – quashing previous concerns that the bloc could oppose the deal.
Under the new returns treaty, any adult migrant who crosses the Channel will now be at risk of return under the pilot scheme if their claim for asylum is considered inadmissible.
Immigration Enforcement have set aside space at immigration removal centres, the government said, while Border Force have an operational strategy ready to identify and process groups of inadmissible migrants for removal.
The Home Office also said it had learnt lessons from the lengthy legal challenges which hampered the failed Rwanda scheme, saying it is “prepared to robustly defend any legal challenges to removal within the initial trial phase”.
The treaty governing the pilot scheme will remain in force until June 2026, during which time both countries have committed to “continually reviewing the effectiveness of the approach in order to decide the long-term future of the arrangements after June 2026”, the government said.
Migrants in France who want to come to the UK will be able to submit an Expression of Interest application for the new legal route online, at which point the Home Office will make a decision.
They will need to satisfactorily establish their identity and nationality and will be subject to strict security and eligibility checks.
Anyone who arrives in the UK by small boat and is returned to France will not be eligible for the legal route to the UK under the deal.
Meanwhile, while anyone who tries to re-enter the UK having already been returned to France once will be returned again as a matter of priority.
Sir Keir Starmer said the treaty is “the product of months of grown-up diplomacy delivering real results for British people as we broker deals no government has been able to achieve and strike at the heart of these vile gangs’ business model”.
“The days of gimmicks and broken promises are over – we will restore order to our borders with the seriousness and competence the British people deserve”, he added.
The home secretary added: “While the UK will always be ready to play its part alongside other countries in helping those fleeing persecution and conflict – this must be done in a controlled and managed legal way, not through dangerous, illegal, and uncontrolled routes.
“We will develop the pilot step by step and will trial different approaches as part of it, and alongside this scheme, we will continue to take action at every level to dismantle the criminal enterprise behind this vile trade, boosted by the £100 million in new investment announced this week to support increased enforcement against the gangs.”
Labour has put a pledge to crack down on the number of people coming to the UK on small boats at the centre of its plan for government.
But with boat crossings at a record high, and the asylum backlog still above 75,000, there is mounting pressure on ministers to take more drastic action – pressure which is exacerbated by the success of Reform UK in the polls.
Last week figures showed that the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel topped 25,000 – the earliest point in a calendar year at which the 25,000 mark has been passed since data on Channel crossings was first reported in 2018.
It comes amid escalating protests across the UK opposing the use of hotels to house asylum seekers, with a number of people arrested after a protest outside a hotel in Canary Wharf in London on Sunday.
In recent days, the government has announced further measures to support their crack down on illegal migration, including pouring an extra £100m into their efforts.The money will support the pilot of the new returns agreement with France, paying for up to 300 more National Crime Agency (NCA) officers and new technology and equipment to step up intelligence-gathering on smuggling gangs.
Meanwhile, anyone who advertises small boat crossings or fake passports on social media could be face up to five years in prison under a new offence to be introduced under the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill.
Speaking on Monday, Dame Angela Eagle told Sky News ministers are “doing the detailed work” to bring down the asylum backlog, adding: “We’ve taken 35,000 people off our streets who have no right to be in our country and sent them back to their countries of origin within a year.”
But as tensions continue to flare over the issue, shadow justice secretary Robert Jenrick said he thinks the “public’s patience has snapped”.“
This is issue is beyond party politics – it is causing immense harm to communities, people’s lives are being wrecked as a result of it, and we simply have to fix it.
“I respect people who are peacefully protesting outside hotels this weekend. I understand why they feel so concerned. They’re seeing their communities damaged”, he added.
