UK-France 'one in, one out' migrant scheme scrapped

The UK government has terminated its "one in, one out" migrant agreement with France, citing the scheme did not reach the desired scale. Since its inception over a year ago, only around 1,500 people have been transferred to France. The pilot allowed the UK to deport some small boat arrivals, while taking in the same number of French nationals with legitimate claims to enter Britain.

The government would utilize lessons from the pilot to expedite the removal of small boat migrants without a legal right to remain. However, flights will continue in the coming weeks to swiftly remove such migrants from the UK. The French Interior Ministry stated they are discussing the terms of exit from the agreement. Small boat crossings, now the most common unauthorized entry method into the UK since 2020, have declined by 42% compared to the same period last year.

The crossings, which made up 40% of asylum applications between July 2025 and June 2026, carried an average of 67 people and resulted in at least 84 deaths in 2024. The Home Secretary acknowledged the challenges in scaling up removals to the French system, while noting some migrants were deterred from small boats due to the scheme.