The government’s ‘one in, one out’ swap deal with France has so far returned 75 migrants, while 51 people have arrived in the UK under the scheme.
Under the pilot scheme, enacted in August, the UK returns asylum seekers who cross the English Channel via small boat but accepts in exchange the same number of vetted asylum seekers who have come via legal means.
The UK made the first removals in September, and on Friday said it had deported 20 more people on a flight this week and 13 last week.
The government says its scheme aims to deter small-boat crossings by threatening those who take the journeys with detention and removal to France.
Seeking asylum via boat is illegal under UK law, although international law states that seeking asylum is a legal right and there should not be any discriminatory distinction as to the method by which people try and flee persecution.
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Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says the scheme is working so far, and “on course” to achieve the goal of reducing boat crossings.
But that was undermined last week by reports that an asylum seeker who had been deported to France had returned to the UK on a small boat. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the man’s return to the UK shows the government is “in total chaos”.
He said he was at risk of persecution in France, which was why he had gone back to the UK. Authorities are working to deport him again.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “For many years, illegal migrants entered our country with…
