Second migrant sent to France returns to the UK

A second migrant who had been sent from the UK to France under the government's "one in, one out" deal has returned to the UK, the Home Office has confirmed.

The man was detained immediately, having been detected by biometrics, and will be sent back to France "as quickly as possible", the Home Office has said.

The "one in, one out" pilot scheme with France is aimed at deterring migrants from coming to the UK in small boats across the English Channel.

Last month, an Iranian man re-entered the UK by small boat one month after being removed to France. He was deported again last Wednesday.

A Home Office spokesperson said officials would continue to catch and return anyone trying to re-enter the UK.

"Anyone looking to return to the UK after being removed under the UK-France agreement is wasting their time and money," the spokesperson said.

"This individual was detected by biometrics and detained immediately. His case will be expedited, and he will be returned to France as quickly as possible.

"The message is clear: if you try to return to the UK you will be sent back. We will do whatever it takes to scale up removals of illegal migrants and secure our borders."

The first flight carrying a cross-Channel small boat migrant, an Indian national, landed in Paris on 18 September.

The UK-France deal for a pilot scheme was struck in September and aims to deter small boat crossings by returning migrants.

About 100 men were detained after arriving in the UK on a small boat, sent to immigration removal centres near Heathrow, and told they may be returned to France.

Last week, the Home Office confirmed 94 migrants have been returned to France and 57 people have arrived in the UK under the scheme so far.

More than 500 migrants crossed the Channel by small boat on Saturday, and 38,726 have made the journey so far this year.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is now considering a major restructure of the UK's immigration rules modelled on Denmark's system.

At Labour conference in September, Mahmood promised to "do whatever it takes" to regain control of Britain's borders and is said to be impressed that Denmark has driven down its number of successful asylum claims to a 40-year low.

Mahmood wants to reduce incentives for people seeking to enter the UK by tightening rules on family reunions, and make it easier to remove those found to have no right to stay.

Downing Street insisted that the detection of a second "one in, one out" migrant returning to the UK showed the system was working.

The prime minister's official spokesman said: "You've got a person who's arrived at the front door, who's been detected immediately, their journey has been wasted completely.

"They are in line to return to France, just as the previous case was - out of pocket and out of chances - they are destined to go back straight to France and their money spent on this dangerous crossing will have been spent in vain."

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman Max Wilkinson accused the Home Office of "staggering levels of incompetence" and called for asylum seekers to be moved out of hotels as well as "large-scale returns agreements" with all safe countries.

"Failures like this show just how broken our system is," he said. "Now is the time for Labour to back up their big promises with actions."

Shadow home secretary Chris Philp nearly 18,000 migrants had arrived in the UK since the deal was struck, with "only a handful removed...which is why they continue to flood in".

Philp said only the Conservatives had a clear plan to tackle illegal migration, saying the party would leave the ECHR and remove all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival.

He added: "But Keir Starmer doesn't have the backbone to do this, and Reform are a one-man band with no detailed plans."

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