Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed the cost of the UK's bilateral migrant return deal with France, which has seen 1,400 people removed since August 2025.
Key facts
- •The cost of £56,000 per person is compared by the Home Secretary to the expense of housing an asylum seeker in a hotel for one year.
- •Small boat arrivals in the UK have decreased by 44% this year, with 17,425 people arriving between January 1 and September 14, 2026.
- •The National Crime Agency attributed the decline in crossings to law enforcement efforts and disruptions in small boat supply chains caused by the war in the Middle East.
- •France has indicated it prefers integrating returns into a wider EU-UK framework rather than maintaining the current bilateral arrangement.
The UK government's "one in, one out" scheme for returning migrants who cross the English Channel to France costs approximately £56,000 per person, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs. The policy, which involves returning small boat arrivals in exchange for accepting asylum seekers with legitimate claims, has resulted in about 1,400 removals since its inception in August 2025. Mahmood acknowledged that scaling the operation has been difficult due to constraints such as limited detention space.
By the numbers
Scheme Performance and Challenges
Mahmood defended the program's viability, noting that it has already facilitated more returns than the former EU-wide Dublin agreement ever achieved. However, she admitted the numbers remain relatively small and that the project has faced operational hurdles. Some individuals removed under the scheme have reportedly returned to the UK via lorries or small boats. The Home Office's estimated average cost for standard enforced returns is £48,800, making the current pilot program more expensive.
Future of the Agreement
The pilot scheme, originally scheduled to end in June 2026, has been extended through October. While the UK government continues the bilateral arrangement, French Interior Minister Laurent Nuñez has expressed a desire to end the deal in favor of a broader EU-UK agreement. Mahmood dismissed the idea that an EU-wide system would serve as a "silver bullet" for the Channel crisis, arguing that such a pact would not resolve the issue.
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This article was independently rewritten by ManyPress editorial AI from reporting originally published by BBC Politics, Guardian Politics (UK).
