The Home Office confirmed that a migrant deported to France has re-entered the UK by small boat under the Government’s “one in, one out” returns deal.
According to officials, the individual was taken into custody right away and will return to France "as quickly as possible."
In an attempt to discourage small boat crossings, he is the second confirmed migrant to have returned to the UK after being deported to France.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said:
“It is absolutely evidence of the system working. You’ve got a person who’s arrived at the front door, who’s been detected immediately, their journey has been wasted completely.
They are in line to return to France, just as the previous case was, out of pocket and out of chances, they are destined to go back straight to France and their money spent on this dangerous crossing will have been spent in vain.”
The identification of a second "one in, one out" migrant returning to the UK, according to Downing Street, demonstrated that the system was functioning.
The number of arrivals is 2% less than the total at this point in 2022 (39,929), but it has already surpassed the total for 2024 (36,816) and 2023 (29,437).
People who enter the UK by small boat may be arrested and sent back to France under the terms of the UK-France agreement that went into effect in August.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp said on Monday the deal is “no deterrent at all” and only a “handful” of people have been removed since the deal was announced in the summer.
Reacting to the latest return, he added:
“We deport them to France and they’re back before you know it.
The Channel is now a revolving door for illegal immigration, and Keir Starmer is waving them through with taxpayer-funded hotel keys.
Only the Conservative Party have a clear, hard-edged BORDERS Plan to restore control. Leave the ECHR, remove all illegal immigrants within a week of arrival, end the merry-go-round of appeals.”
How often do deported migrants reattempt Channel crossings?
Deported Settlers reattempting Channel crossings is a concern but sanctioned data suggests it happens fairly rarely on a large scale so far. Since the UK- France" one- in, one- out" expatriation agreement began in August 2025, only 94 people have been returned to France while 57 have entered the UK fairly from France under the complementary terms.
The number of deported settlers who reattempt crossings is small compared to the record aggregate of over 32,000 crossings in 2025, with diurnal crossings exceeding 1,000 on several occasions.
The scheme is still in its airman and original phase, and government officers anticipate the returns to ramp up in the coming months. The Home Office emphasizes that reprise advents will be instantly removed again to discourage unborn attempts.