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LONDON: A second migrant removed to France under Britain’s “one in, one out” deal with Paris has returned to the UK, officials said Monday, raising fresh doubts about the scheme’s effectiveness.
The man was “detected by biometrics and detained immediately,” a spokesperson for the interior ministry, known as the Home Office, said in a statement.
“His case will be expedited, and he will be returned to France as quickly as possible,” the spokesperson added.
It comes after an Iranian asylum seeker re-entered Britain by small boat across the Channel on October 18, a month after being removed to France.
He was deported again last Wednesday.
The cases are an embarrassing setback for the scheme aimed at deterring the tens of thousands of migrants arriving on small boats each year on the shores of southeast England.
However, Downing Street insisted that the latest detection showed that the scheme was working.
“They are destined to go back straight to France and their money spent on this dangerous crossing will have been spent in vain,” said Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s official spokesman.
Agreed by Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, the scheme came into force in September and enables Britain to deport some of the arrivals deemed not to have a right to stay.
In return, London will accept an equal number of migrants from France who are likely to have their asylum claim granted, giving priority to nationalities most vulnerable to smugglers and those with ties in Britain.
Last Wednesday, the Home Office said that 94 migrants have been removed from the UK under the treaty, while 57 have arrived through the official application process.
The arrangement has been heavily criticized by migrants’ rights groups as unfair, while Starmer’s domestic political opponents have branded it a gimmick and ineffectual.
More than 39,000 migrants have arrived in Britain on small boats so far this year, surpassing the total for 2024 but lower than the record set in 2022 when the Conservatives were in power.
Labour’s failure to cut crossings since Starmer became prime minister in July last year is helping fuel support for anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage’s hard-right Reform UK party.