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2mo ago

UK and France Launch One-for-One Channel Return Pilot

Questions persist over whether the plan’s first phase of 50 returns will undercut its deterrent aim by leaving treaty gaps for asylum challenges.

ARCHIVO - Gendarmes franceses observan una embarcación con migrantes a bordo desde la playa de Ecault, en Francia, el 4 de julio de 2025. (AP Foto/John Leicester, archivo)
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Overview

  • The pilot took effect on August 6 with UK border authorities detaining the first group of small-boat migrants in immigration centers pending their return to France.
  • Under the agreement, France will select one asylum seeker with family ties in the UK for legal settlement for each undocumented migrant sent back.
  • Both governments retain veto power over individual exchanges on grounds of national security, public health or international relations.
  • UK officials are required to send necessary case documentation to French counterparts within three days, who must respond within two weeks, and the scheme initially caps exchanges at 50 people.
  • Critics warn that the narrow scale and legal loopholes in the bilateral treaty could allow many migrants to remain under asylum protections, limiting the plan’s deterrent effect.