Britain continues sending asylum seekers to France — The Guardian

Britain continues to fly asylum seekers to France weeks after the end of the “one in, one out” scheme. As The Guardian reports, the UK Home Office continues to detain dozens of people who are planned to be forcibly returned to France.

The agreement was announced in July 2025 by French President Emmanuel Macron and former UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer. It provided for the return to France of some people who arrived in Britain in small boats across the English Channel, while an equal number of migrants from northern France were to be legally admitted to the United Kingdom.

Flights after the agreement ended

The scheme ended on 1 October. However, this week British officials chartered a plane to France for a group of people who, according to available information, arrived in the country in small boats before the programme ended. Another flight is scheduled for 17 November. Sources in the UK Home Office said that the return of the remaining people covered by the programme is continuing after the formal end of the agreement.

According to information obtained through freedom of information requests, seven of 23 deportation flights under the programme were cancelled from July to September. This is almost a third of all such flights and more than twice the number of cancelled flights to France during the first six months of 2026.

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Returns to Britain

According to the publication, at least seven asylum seekers who were returned to France arrived in the UK again after 1 October. The Guardian spoke to a Syrian man and an Iranian man who had previously been sent to France, and whose asylum claims are being considered in the United Kingdom after they returned to Britain.

Emma Ginn, head of the organisation Medical Justice, said that people being prepared for forced return are still being held in detention centres. According to her, detention and the prospect of being returned to France cause significant harm to vulnerable asylum seekers.

According to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood at a meeting of the House of Commons cross-party committee, returning people to France cost at least £78 million. The publication also notes that some individuals were sent to France for a second time after returning to Britain, increasing the costs.