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The UK government has scrapped its “one in, one out” agreement with France for handling some migrants who cross the English Channel in small boats, the BBC reported.
Under the pilot scheme, Britain could return certain small-boat arrivals to France while accepting the same number of people from France who were considered to have legitimate grounds to enter the UK.
Only about 1,500 people have been returned to France since the arrangement began just over a year ago. The BBC understands that the UK government wanted the scheme to continue but concluded that it had not reached the scale it sought.
Flights to continue in coming weeks
A Home Office spokesperson said the pilot was “no longer processing new cases”, but flights would continue in the coming weeks to remove small-boat migrants who have no right to remain in the UK.
“We will use lessons learned from the pilot to accelerate efforts to return small boat migrants with no right to remain in the UK,” the spokesperson said.
The UK government said it would continue working with France to tackle Channel crossings, adding that “real progress” had been made and that numbers were “significantly down on last year”.
The French Interior Ministry told the BBC that the two countries were discussing “the terms of exit from the agreement”.
Scheme faced operational challenges
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said earlier this month that the scheme had “not been without its challenges”. Speaking to MPs, she said the numbers remained relatively small and that scaling up removals into the French system every week had proved operationally difficult.
Ms Mahmood also said the UN and other agencies had reported that some migrants were choosing not to board small boats because they believed they might be accepted under the “one in, one out” arrangement.
So far this year, 19,135 people have crossed the Channel, 42% fewer than during the same period in 2025, when 32,188 people made the journey in small boats.
