Britain and France end pilot scheme for Channel crossings

Britain and France have scrapped a pilot arrangement intended to reduce migrant crossings of the English Channel in small boats, the UK government said on Wednesday. The Home Office said the “one in, one out” agreement was “no longer processing new cases”. Under the scheme, people who reached Britain after crossing the Channel could be detained and returned to France in exchange for an equivalent number of asylum seekers who had applied through a safe and legal route.

The arrangement was intended to run for three years but included a provision allowing it to end earlier. The Home Office said about 1,500 people had been returned to France, while slightly fewer had been transferred to the UK. Deportation flights will continue in the coming weeks for people who have already been detained, it added.

The government said it would continue working with France to tackle small-boat crossings. The number of people making the journey has fallen sharply this year, reaching a five-year low, according to the source material. Around 19,000 people have crossed so far this year, about 40% fewer than during the same period last year.

The decline has been attributed to several factors, including increased police patrols and stronger surveillance in northern France. The risks of the crossing were highlighted on Monday, when a 10-year-old child and two women died after apparently being trampled on a boat carrying more than 100 people. Small-boat arrivals have become a major political issue in Britain.

Anger over successive governments’ handling of the issue has contributed to demonstrations and riots and helped fuel support for the hard-right Reform UK party. The Home Office said the pilot was no longer active but did not provide a reason for its termination beyond confirming that new cases were no longer being processed.