A man sent back to France under Keir Starmer’s flagship “one in, one out” returns deal has returned to the UK on a small boat.
It is understood the man is currently being held at an immigration detention centre and the Home Office is looking to expedite his case for removal.
The agreement, announced with great fanfare by the prime minister in a joint press conference with French President Emmanuel Macron over the summer, 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 said it was a “breakthrough moment” which would “turn the tables” on the people smugglers – but a Downing Street spokesperson on Wednesday there was “no silver bullet” to tackling migration.
The man, who was initially removed to France as part of the deal before returning in a small boat, told the Guardian he is a victim of modern slavery at the hands of smugglers in northern France.
“If I had felt that France was safe for me I would never have returned to the UK,” he told the newspaper.
Earlier this week, the Home Office announced that sixteen more people who entered the UK illegally were returned to France, taking the number deported under the deal to 42.
More to follow…
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