UK-France 'one in, one out' migrant scheme scrapped
Some 1,500 people have been removed to France since the scheme began just over a year ago.
UK-France ‘one in, one out’ migrant scheme ended
The UK government has said the “one in, one out” deal with France, under which some migrants crossing the Channel were sent back, has been scrapped.
Under the pilot, the UK could return some small boat arrivals while agreeing to accept the same number of people from France who were thought to have a valid case to come to Britain.
Since the scheme started just over a year ago, only about 1,500 people have been removed to France.
The BBC understands ministers would have preferred the scheme to carry on, but believed it had not reached the scale they wanted.
A Home Office spokesperson said “lessons learned” would be used to “accelerate efforts” to return small boat migrants who have no right to stay.
“The government’s pilot with France to remove asylum seekers in exchange for an equal number of legal migrants is no longer processing new cases,” the spokesperson said.
“However, flights will continue over the coming weeks to swiftly remove small boat migrants from the UK, and we will use lessons learned from the pilot to accelerate efforts to return small boat migrants with no right to remain in the UK.”
The government would keep working with France to address small boat crossings, the spokesperson said, adding that “real progress” had been made and numbers were “significantly down on last year”.
The French Interior Ministry told the BBC: “We are discussing with the British the terms of exit from the agreement.”
From 1 January to 27 September 2026, 19,135 people crossed the English Channel by small boat from France. That was 42% lower than in the same period the previous year.
These crossings have been the most common way people have been found entering the UK illegally since 2020.
Almost everyone who arrives by small boat claims asylum. Under international law, that means they are allowed to remain in the country while their asylum claim is assessed.
Small boat arrivals accounted for 40% of asylum applications between July 2025 and June 2026.
Boats arriving in the UK from 28 September 2025 to 27 September 2026 carried an average of 67 people. That figure has more than doubled since 2021.
Experts say overcrowding makes the crossings more dangerous. At least 84 people died while trying to cross the Channel in 2024, according to the United Nations (UN).
In terms of scale, small boat arrivals made up about 5% of total immigration into the UK from January 2025 to December 2025.
The government has promised to “smash the gangs” behind the crossings to bring the numbers down.
People from Eritrea made up 18% of all arrivals from July 2025 to June 2026.
In the latest figures for January 2025 to December 2025, at least 2,335 people who arrived by small boat were identified by the Home Office as potential victims of human trafficking or other forms of modern slavery.
A further 4,712 people were found entering the UK without permission by other means, including hiding in vehicles, travelling on ferries or through airports, from July 2025 to June 2026. That was 17% lower than in the same period the year before.
There are also people who enter legally, such as on work or study visas, and then stay beyond the permitted period.
The total number of people living illegally in the UK after arriving legally is not known.
Earlier this month, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the scheme had “not been without its challenges”.
“The numbers are still relatively small,” she told MPs.
“What has been more operationally difficult is to scale up very large numbers of removals every week into the French system.”
She also said the UN and other agencies had reported that some migrants were not getting into small boats because they believed there was a chance they could be accepted under the “one in, one out” scheme.
So far this year, 19,135 people have crossed the Channel, which is 42% lower than the same period in 2025, when 32,188 crossed in small boats.