UK-France 'one in, one out' migrant scheme scrapped
The UK government has officially scrapped its 'one in, one out' pilot scheme with France, which aimed to exchange small boat asylum seekers for legal migrants. Officials stated the program did not reach the desired scale, though efforts to return migrants with no right to remain will continue.
Why it matters
The termination of this pilot marks a shift in UK-France border management policy regarding the ongoing small boat crisis in the English Channel.
Image source, Getty Images By Simon Jones and Vicky Wong Published 19 minutes ago The UK government has announced the "one in, one out" agreement with France to send back some migrants who cross the Channel has been scrapped.
The pilot scheme allowed the UK to return some small boat arrivals while agreeing to take in the same number of people from France who were believed to have a legitimate claim to come to Britain.
Only around 1,500 people have been removed to France since the scheme began just over a year ago.
The BBC understands the government would have liked the scheme to continue, but felt it did not reach the desired scale.
A Home Office spokesperson said "lessons learned" would be used to "accelerate efforts" to return small boat migrants with no right to remain.
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