Overview

• Formal removal directions have been issued to some August small‑boat arrivals, with the Home Office saying the first returns are imminent.
• Reports indicate flights could begin as early as Monday, with government sources signaling departures this week, though exact dates remain unconfirmed.
• The pilot operates on a ‘one in, one out’ basis, returning selected arrivals to France while admitting approved applicants from France via a new legal route.
• Initial numbers are small at roughly 100 returns as crossings this year have already surpassed 30,000, far outstripping the pilot’s early capacity.
• Lawyers and refugee charities plan challenges to individual removals, and detainees have been held in immigration removal centres since early August after processing at Manston.