UK-France Migrant Returns Scheme Scrapped After Sending 1,500 People to France

A pilot scheme under which the UK returned migrants who crossed the English Channel by small boat to France has been scrapped, the BBC reported, after roughly 1,500 people were removed under the program since it began just over a year ago.

The "one in, one out" arrangement was intended to send back individuals who had arrived via unauthorized Channel crossings in exchange for the UK accepting a corresponding number of asylum seekers who had applied to come to Britain through legal routes from France.

The BBC's report frames the roughly 1,500 removals as the scheme's headline outcome over its operating period, though it does not provide a breakdown of how many people were accepted into the UK under the reciprocal legal route during the same timeframe.

Channel crossings by small boat have remained one of the most closely watched and politically contentious issues in UK immigration policy, with successive governments pursuing a range of measures aimed at reducing the numbers attempting the crossing.

The report does not specify what prompted the decision to end the scheme at this time, nor whether a replacement arrangement between London and Paris is under discussion.

The scrapping of the program leaves open questions about how the UK and France will coordinate on managing future Channel crossings, an issue likely to remain prominent in both countries' immigration debates.