UK says first migrants held under return deal with France

The United Kingdom said Thursday, August 7, it had detained the first migrants under a new “one-in, one-out” deal with France in which it can return people crossing the Channel on small boats.

The agreement, which came into force on Wednesday, seeks to curb record levels of irregular Channel crossings, which are causing discontent in Britain and helping fuel the rise of the hard-right Reform UK party. “Detentions began for those who arrived in the UK on a small boat yesterday lunchtime (Wednesday). They will be held in immigration removal centres pending their removal,” the interior ministry said in a statement. The detained individuals are expected to be removed to France in the “coming weeks,” it added.

Under the arrangement, for now a pilot scheme set to run until June 2026, irregular migrants arriving on UK shores can be detained and then returned to France if they are deemed ineligible for asylum. This would include those who have passed through a “safe country” to reach the UK, according to a Home Office fact sheet.

In exchange, London will accept an equal number of migrants from France who can apply for a visa to enter the UK via an online platform, giving priority to nationalities most vulnerable to smugglers and people with ties in Britain. If approved, they will have a three-month period in which they can enter the UK and apply for asylum.

“If you break the law to enter this country, you will face being sent back. When I say I will stop at nothing to secure our borders, I mean it,” Prime Minister Keir Starmer wrote on X after the announcement of the detentions. His government will refer the detainees’ cases to France within three days, and the French authorities will be expected to respond within 14 days.