UK to Start Sending Some Migrants Back to France in Days Under New Deal

The UK is preparing to return some migrants to France within days, following the ratification of a new bilateral treaty. The deal forms part of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s broader plan to curb illegal migration, especially small boat crossings. Under this agreement, France will accept migrants who arrive in the UK without documentation, while Britain will take in an equal number of legitimate asylum seekers who have family ties in the UK.

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This "one in, one out" pilot scheme, unveiled last month by Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, is a response to increasing political and public pressure on the UK government. More than 25,000 people have arrived by small boats so far in 2025. Starmer, who has faced sliding approval ratings since his landslide election win, is under added pressure from the surging Reform UK party led by Nigel Farage, which is calling for stricter border control measures.

French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau stated that the goal of the deal is to dismantle people-smuggling networks. British Home Secretary Yvette Cooper confirmed that returns would begin with small numbers and increase gradually. Initially, around 50 migrants could be sent back each week about 2,600 per year far fewer than the more than 35,000 small boat arrivals recorded last year.

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Cooper stressed that the new deal is only one part of the government’s broader anti-smuggling strategy. The UK has introduced sanctions targeting people traffickers, removed online job adverts aimed at migrants, and partnered with delivery companies to block illegal employment offers. While the European Commission and EU member states have approved the plan, critics say the scale is too small to act as a real deterrent. Meanwhile, recent protests outside migrant housing in England have highlighted growing public division over the issue of asylum and border enforcement.