Asylum seeker deported to France in Labour ‘1-in-1-out’ back in UK | Politics | News
An immigrant who was deported from the UK to France as part of the Labor Party’s much-ballyhooed ‘one-in-one-out’ deal has revealed that he was smuggled to the UK in a lorry. The male asylum seeker’s statement appears to mock Sir Keir Starmer’s so-called “one in, one out” deal with the French; According to this regulation, the United Kingdom accepts an equal number of refugees for every person it sends back to France.
As of April this year, 551 people had been returned under this arrangement, but the figures may be misleading if some of the immigrants sent to France are secretly returning to the UK. Speaking to the Guardian newspaper, the asylum seeker said he was aware of other immigrants sent to France under the program who had recently returned to the UK.
He explained: “I’m not a bad person for the UK. I want to live here in peace, work legally and be safe. But people like me who live underground can be forced into crime to survive.
“I came here to follow the rules of the country, not to break them, but the immigration rules here can force people like me to break the rules by doing things like working illegally.”
The migrant claimed he was caught by smugglers while being deported to France and returned to the UK to escape their clutches. He said he was aware of at least 18 other men who ignored direct deportation and returned to the UK illegally.
A Home Office spokesman said: “Anyone who wants to return to the UK after being deported under the UK-France agreement is wasting their time and money. They will be removed again.”
“Under this government, sanctions are increasing, asylum decision-making is increasing, removals are increasing, backlogs and hotel use are decreasing.
“Twenty-twenty-five was a record year for tackling organized immigration crime, with disruption rising by more than a third in 2024. Under our repatriation agreement with France, we deported more than 600 illegal immigrants from British territory.”
