Taxpayers face paying more than £48,000 for every deported migrant under Labour’s ‘failed’ one-in one-out deal

Taxpayers could be paying more than £48,000 for every immigrant deported from the UK As part of Labour’s ‘failed’ one-to-one deal with France.

Analysis by the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory found that the cost of removing migrants has risen sharply from around £15,000 a decade ago.

The average price for each forced repatriation carried out by the Home Office in the 2024/25 financial year was set at £48,800, compared to £4,300 for voluntary repatriation.

According to these figures, one flight Transporting 32 migrants, along with 73 escorts and two paramedics, from Stansted to Paris on January 20 could have cost £1.52 million.

The total includes the cost of flight tickets, casework and financial support provided to immigrants after leaving the UK.

Under the terms of the deal signed in July, Britain can send a small boat of migrants back to France in exchange for accepting a migrant who has not previously tried to come illegally.

So far 497 people have returned to France and 482 have arrived in the UK since the agreement was signed; Shipping costs in both directions are covered by UK taxpayers.

The HM Inspectorate of Prisons report, published yesterday, said the men, who flew to Paris in January, were all detained after arriving in the UK on small boats before being held in immigration detention centres.

Each migrant was escorted by two staff after three passengers on a previous flight were restrained using a waist belt after they showed ‘continued resistance’. However, the flight was successful and no power was required.

A migrant who was unable to board a boat swims in the sea off the coast of Dunkirk on the French coast on April 13, 2026.

Workers were criticized for the slow pace and costs of deportations.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: ‘The government’s so-called head-to-head plan is a failure.

‘While it was operating, more than 20,000 people entered the UK and fewer than 400 were removed.

‘It is clear that allowing 98 percent of illegal immigrants to stay is absolutely not a deterrent.

‘No wonder more illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel under Keir Starmer than any other prime minister, and crossings have increased by 45% since the election.’

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘Illegal immigrants and foreign criminals are provided with escorts where risk assessments indicate they are needed.

‘Since the 2024 election, the Government has saved close to £1 billion on asylum costs and returned or deported nearly 60,000 people.’

More than 5,136 people have arrived in the UK on small boats so far this year; This is about a third lower than in the same period in 2025, when 8,064 people traveled.

Two men and two women died as they tried to climb onto a boat at Equihen-Plage, near Boulogne-sur-Mer, on Thursday morning.

Following the incident, two children were among those hospitalized as a precaution, while one person was treated for hypothermia.

A Sudanese man was arrested on suspicion of endangering life.

This has been revealed with new photographs that once again show the failure of French police to intervene as dozens of migrants boarded boats bound for Britain.

Despite their special uniforms, which included riot helmets, waterproof body cameras, non-lethal handguns and pistol-grip pepper spray, the gendarmerie stood and watched overloaded boats cruise on the horizon.

A farcical scene emerged on the beaches of Dunkirk on Monday after France’s human rights watchdog ordered police to stop using aggressive tactics to stop migrants.

Highly influential Rights Campaigner Claire Hédon said in January that harsh tactics such as slashing boats with knives or subduing migrants with tear gas or rubber bullets were ‘disproportionate’ and risked harming the thousands of young men flocking to Britain.

On Monday, around 200 migrants were seen heading towards the sea before being collected by small boats sent from further down the coast in a tactic known as ‘taxi boat’.

French police agreed to tackle ‘taxi boats’ at a personal request from Prime Minister Keir Starmer in January, but will only attempt to intervene before they seize migrants.

Police unions have warned it could put the lives of people smugglers, migrants and French officers at risk and leave officers facing prosecution if anyone drowns or is injured.

Two weeks ago the two countries reached a long-term agreement as Britain reached a new two-month agreement to pay France £16.2 million more for Channel policing.

Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood signed the agreement, which expands a previous agreement to subsidize French coastal patrols.

More unidentified immigrants in recent weeks have claimed to have fled war in Iran to secure refugee status, according to officials.

Others falsely claimed to be Bidoon (stateless Arabs from Kuwait, descendants of nomadic tribes who were denied citizenship after the country’s independence in 1961).