A family of three, including a young child, has become the inaugural group to arrive in the UK as part of a bilateral agreement with France known as the “one-in, one-out” deal. This agreement was forged to establish a legal pathway for asylum seekers, discouraging risky Channel crossings on small boats.
The arrangement dictates that the UK will welcome individuals with valid asylum claims in France who have not attempted the perilous journey before. Conversely, France will repatriate an equivalent number of migrants who have crossed into Britain via flimsy vessels in a reciprocal “one-in, one-out” pact. In recent days, the first four individuals were sent back to France under this accord.
This development aligns with Keir Starmer’s initiatives to dismantle the criminal networks profiting from these hazardous crossings, which tragically led to at least 78 fatalities in 2024. The UK-France pact, operational since last month, empowers the authorities to detain and deport individuals arriving via small boats before they enter the asylum system.
In response to the initial arrivals from France, a spokesperson from the Home Office remarked, “The UK-France deal is a landmark agreement, and these initial steps are crucial. It sends a clear message to human traffickers that illegal entry into the UK will not be tolerated. We will persist in detaining and repatriating those who arrive on small boats.”
As the government continues its efforts to curb the influx of individuals undertaking the hazardous voyage to Britain on small boats, the focus remains on deterring asylum seekers from engaging smugglers for passage. The authorities plan to escalate the number of deportations under the pilot program, slated to continue until June of the following year.
In 2025, a total of 32,188 individuals have arrived in the UK via small boats, with over 1,000 recorded in a single day last Friday following the initiation of returns to Paris under the agreement. The government anticipates that these repatriations will dissuade asylum seekers from relying on smugglers for assistance in reaching the UK.
