Within weeks, the UK will start sending back migrants who arrive in tiny boats to France as part of a new trial program, according to Sir Keir Starmer. The “one in, one out” agreement would see some newcomers sent back to France in exchange for the UK taking in an equal number of asylum applicants, subject to security checks.
During a three-day state visit, the prime leader claimed the plan would demonstrate that efforts to cross the Channel in tiny boats would “be in vain” when speaking with French President Emmanuel Macron. Sir Keir would not confirm any statistics, although it had been claimed that the plan would see up to 50 individuals returned each week.
The “ground-breaking” approach, he claimed, would help “break the model” of the people traffickers and, if successful, would be expanded. According to him, illegal migration is “a global crisis, an EU crisis, and a crisis for our two nations.
In tiny boats, almost 170,000 migrants have entered the UK since statistics started to be collected in 2018. In the first half of 2025, around 20,000 arrived, setting a new high for this year’s numbers. The plan would have a “deterrent effect” that extends beyond the numbers returned, according to Macron.
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