FOCUS – UK halts “one in, one out” migrant deal with France over Channel crossings

LONDON, September 30 /ATSH-DPA/ – The British government has halted its “one in, one out” agreement with France, which was aimed at curbing small-boat migrant crossings of the English Channel.

According to the British Home Office, the pilot scheme is no longer accepting new cases.

France has reportedly asked for the agreement to be expanded and turned into a European-level agreement.

Under the scheme, migrants who entered the United Kingdom after crossing the English Channel could be detained and returned to France.

In exchange, the United Kingdom accepted an equal number of people who had sought asylum through regular and legal routes.

By October 1, around 1,500 asylum seekers had been returned from the United Kingdom to France, while a slightly smaller number of people had come from France to the United Kingdom through the scheme.

Return flights for migrants will continue in the coming weeks for people who have already been detained.

The British government said small-boat crossings have fallen significantly compared to last year and that during the summer the number of crossings was the lowest in six years.

Since Brexit, the United Kingdom is no longer part of the Dublin Agreement, which allowed European countries to return asylum seekers to the country where they had first entered Europe.