‘One in, one out’ deal on Channel crossings to end in October, French reports say | Immigration and asylum
According to reports in the French press, the “one in, one out” agreement between the UK and France regarding cross-Channel migration is expected to end in October.
Under the terms of the agreement, asylum seekers who arrive in the UK on a small boat can be forcibly returned to France in exchange for others who have not tried to cross the English Channel in France being brought to the UK legally.
This has been criticized by NGOs and asylum seekers as unfair and inhumane due to a seemingly random selection process; because some of those sent back to France say their lives are threatened by people smugglers in northern France.
Immigrant advocacy groups were highly critical of the agreement. Médecins Sans Frontières condemned the plan as “a cynical bargain over human life”. The NGO provides assistance to people repatriated to France and has reported cases of acute stress disorder and disorientation.
A report in France’s Le Monde newspaper quotes a source in the French interior ministry as saying that the agreement will not be extended beyond October and that an action plan announced by the European Commission on June 18 aims to replace the bilateral approach to asylum seekers traveling across the Channel to the United Kingdom.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs welcomed the EU Canal action plan, saying it envisages a more coordinated response to Canal crossings at the EU level.
Between last September, when deportations began, and June 9 this year, 921 asylum seekers were returned to France and 896 were brought legally to the UK, according to the Home Office. Between 15 and 22 June, 1,939 asylum seekers arrived in the UK on small boats.
A Home Office spokesman said: “The government’s agreement with France has been extended until the autumn. This will enable us to continue removing migrants arriving on small boats throughout the summer.”
Critics of the one-in, one-out plan have expressed doubts that it acts as the deterrent Keir Starmer had hoped when he and Emmanuel Macron announced the “groundbreaking” deal during a state visit to the UK last July.
The Telegraph reported that people smugglers in France now travel up to 80 miles from France to the UK via circuitous routes, nearly four times the shortest cross-Channel journey.
Asylum seekers sent back to France told the Guardian they received little support there and some were threatened with going back to countries such as Syria. Others returned to Britain a second time in trucks or small boats, leading to a change in policy this month that allowed France to readmit some asylum seekers who returned to Britain by truck.
