The so-called “one in, one out” deportation agreement between the United Kingdom and France has led to more migrants being admitted to Britain than being removed.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: More illegal immigrants have arrived in the United Kingdom under the Labour government’s “one in, one out” deal with France than have been removed from the country. 📺 DETAIL: In July last year, under former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, in collaboration with French President Emmanuel Macron, the United Kingdom and France agreed a deal to tackle the rising number of small boats carrying illegal migrants launched from northern France. This deal states that for every migrant the United Kingdom returns to France after an illegal Channel crossing, the United Kingdom agrees to admit one different migrant from France through a legal, approved route. However, it has been revealed that, under this supposedly equitable deal, 1,117 migrants have been admitted to Britain while only 1,087 illegals have been removed. This means that Britain has accepted more arrivals than it has returned. The new data follows new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s defense of the government’s current approach to the Channel crisis. 🎯 IMPACT: These new figures are likely to cast doubt on the government’s border control strategy. This new data suggests that the British government is not deporting illegal immigrants fast enough or in particularly high numbers. This is potentially down to the fact that illegal Channel crossings have spiked under new British Prime Minister Andy Burnham. This is likely to create pressure on the new Prime Minister, especially in light of the crisis in Ceuta, Spain, in which approximately 70,000 illegal migrants rushed the exclave’s border with Morocco. If the Labour government cannot fulfill the objective of its own deal, voters may look to parties offering more thorough measures, such as Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party, which recently unveiled “Operation Fortress” on Monday. This program would use the Royal Navy to deter small boats carrying illegal migrants across the English Channel. 📺 FLASHBACK: This is not the first time that the deal with France has come under scrutiny. Back in October 2025, a boat migrant deported to France under the deal simply returned to Britain on another small boat. “If I had felt that France was safe for me, I would never have returned to the UK,” said the migrant at the time. |
🚨 NEW: The UK's "one in, one out" deal with France currently stands at 1,117 in, 1,087 out
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) August 4, 2026
Image by Pedro Gontijo/Senado Federal.
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