UK Ends ‘One in, One Out’ Migrant Deal with France

Wed Sep 30 2026 19:39:54 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)

The UK government has scrapped the pilot that swapped migrants from France for small‑boat arrivals; just 1,500 people have been returned, sparking a rethink on migration policy.

The UK government has shut down the “one in, one out” pilot that swapped small‑boat arrivals with legal French migrants. Since it began a year ago, only about 1,500 people have been repatriated to France, falling far short of target numbers. Home Affairs officials say the scheme didn’t hit scale and will redirect resources to fast‑track future removals. Policy chief Shabana Mahmood admitted challenges in scaling up operations, while the UK remains committed to working with France to curb small‑boat crossings.

UK Ends ‘One in, One Out’ Migrant Deal with France

Men in orange life vests on a dinghy, ready to cross the Channel

The UK government has announced it will stop the “one in, one out” pilot that swapped small boat arrivals with French migrants.

Since the scheme began a year ago only about 1,500 people have been sent back to France.

A Home Office spokesperson said the programme didn’t reach the scale the government was hoping for and that new removals will continue using “lessons learned.”

Policy chief Shabana Mahmood admitted the pilot had challenges, noting it was hard to scale up large numbers of removals into France. She also highlighted that some migrants might avoid small boats because they expect they could be accepted under the scheme.

Even though the pilot has ended, the UK will keep working with France to tackle small boat crossings and aims to keep numbers down.

Recent data shows 19,135 people crossed the English Channel by small boat this year, a 42% drop from the same period last year.

Want to dive deeper? Check our stats dashboard on small boat arrivals.