A migrant deported to France under Labour’s flagship “one-in, one-out” returns agreement has already made it back to the UK on a small boat, delivering a humiliating blow to Sir Keir Starmer’s border control strategy.
The man, who claims asylum in Britain, told The Guardian he believed France was unsafe and that he fell victim to modern slavery and violent smuggling gangs in northern France after being returned under the much-touted UK-France treaty.
Home Office sources confirmed that at least one person sent to France under the pilot scheme is now back in UK detention, undermining the entire premise that returns would deter Channel crossings.
“I Didn’t Dare Go Out – Afraid for My Life”
Speaking from a UK immigration detention centre, the man explained why he risked his life crossing the Channel again after being deported.
“If I had felt that France was safe for me I would never have returned to the UK,” he stated.
“When we returned to France we were taken to a shelter in Paris. I didn’t dare to go out because I was afraid for my life. The smugglers are very dangerous.”
The man said smugglers “always carry weapons and knives” and that he had fallen into the “trap of a human trafficking network in the forests of France” before his first crossing.
Claims of Violence and Forced Labour
The returned migrant described horrific treatment at the hands of trafficking networks operating in northern France.
“They took me like a worthless object, forced me to work, abused me, and threatened me with a gun and told me I would be killed if I made the slightest protest,” he told The Guardian.
“Every day and night I was filled with stress and terror. I lived with fear and anxiety over any loud noise, shadow and strange face.”
The man said when he first reached the UK and Home Office officials asked what happened, “I was crying and couldn’t speak about this because of shame.
“Returns Deal With France is in Chaos”
The Director of the Centre for Migration Control Research told GB News: “The returns deal with France is in chaos.
“It has failed to deter anyone and migrants have now realised they can simply try again and come back across the Channel.”
“Far from being a deterrent, this scheme is simply increasing the demand. The winners will be the people smugglers.”
The assessment represents a devastating verdict on Labour’s central immigration policy, which Starmer claimed would succeed where Conservative approaches failed.
42 Returns vs 10,000+ Arrivals
The scale of the policy’s failure becomes clear in the numbers: since the deal came into effect in early August, more than 10,000 illegal migrants have crossed the Channel.
Just 42 have been returned to France under the agreement – a ratio of approximately 238 arrivals for every single return.
The Home Office announced on Sunday that 16 small boat arrivals had been returned to France last week, though at least one has already made it back.
Multiple Testimonies of Exploitation
The Human Rights Network organisation said it had received multiple testimonies from asylum seekers now in the UK who had been exploited by smugglers in northern France.
Founder and Director Maddie Harris said she recently visited asylum seekers who had been returned under the pilot scheme.
“We regularly hear from people who have spent time in France, passing through Dunkirk and Calais to get to the UK,” she explained.
Harris added they had “witnessed or experienced violence and exploitation” at the hands of smugglers and traffickers.
Violence, Coercion and Sexual Abuse
“This includes people being forced or coerced into steering a boat, the use of physical violence, servitude, beatings, stabbings and sexual violence,” Harris detailed.
“The men we have spoken to post their removal to France under the ‘one-in, one-out’ scheme have spoken of their horror to find themselves back in a country where they do not feel safe.”
The testimonies suggest France’s migrant camps remain dangerous, violent environments controlled by criminal gangs.
Home Office: “Will Not Accept Border Abuse”
A Home Office spokesman insisted: “We will not accept any abuse of our borders.
“We will do everything in our power to remove those without the legal right to be here.”
“Individuals who are returned under the pilot and subsequently attempt to re-enter the UK illegally will [be] removed.”
However, the promise to remove returning migrants rings hollow given this man successfully made it back and is now in detention rather than immediately being deported again.
Farage: “Total Abject Failure”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage seized on the news as proof of Labour’s incompetence.
It showed Sir Keir Starmer’s one-in, one-out policy was a total abject failure,” he declared.
“Illegals are laughing at us.”
Farage’s assessment captures the perception that Britain has become a soft touch, unable to enforce even the limited returns agreements it manages to negotiate.
Why Returns Don’t Work
The case exposes fundamental flaws in the one-in, one-out approach:
- France remains unsafe: Migrant camps in Calais and Dunkirk are controlled by violent smuggling gangs
- No deterrent: Knowing you might be returned to France doesn’t stop crossings if you can simply try again
- Limited scope: France only accepts returns in narrow circumstances
- Easy to evade: Migrants can avoid French authorities and re-attempt crossings
- Smuggler profits: Multiple crossing attempts mean more fees paid to criminal gangs
Contrast With Rwanda
Labour scrapped the Conservative Rwanda deportation scheme, arguing it was expensive and unworkable.
Yet the Rwanda model – sending failed asylum seekers to a safe third country where they couldn’t simply return – at least theoretically provided a deterrent.
The France returns scheme offers no such barrier, as this case proves migrants can be back in Britain within days or weeks.
Modern Slavery Claims
The returned migrant’s claims of modern slavery in France raise uncomfortable questions about whether Britain is deporting people into danger.
If French authorities cannot protect migrants from trafficking gangs in Calais, returning people there may breach Britain’s obligations under international law.
However, accepting such claims would make the returns scheme completely unworkable, as anyone could cite trafficking risks to avoid deportation.
The revelation delivers maximum political embarrassment to Starmer, who built his border control strategy around the France returns deal.
Having mocked Conservative Rwanda plans as unworkable, Labour now presides over a scheme that demonstrably doesn’t work and actively enables re-crossing.
The optics of someone being deported then immediately returning will reinforce public perceptions that Labour has lost control of immigration.
What Happens Now
The returned migrant sits in detention whilst authorities decide his fate:
- Immediate re-deportation to France (unlikely given his modern slavery claims)
- Asylum claim processing in UK (defeats entire purpose of returns)
- Legal challenge to second deportation (could tie up case for months)
None of these options represent success for the government’s policy.
Smuggling Gangs Win
As the Migration Control Research Director noted, smuggling gangs are the real winners from this debacle.
They can now sell multiple crossing attempts to the same customers, knowing deportation to France is temporary and crossings can be re-attempted.
This increases revenue for criminal networks whilst making a mockery of British border enforcement.
As this embarrassing case demonstrates, Labour’s much-touted alternative to Rwanda has proven even more ineffective than the Conservative scheme they cancelled, with migrants now gaming a system that offers no meaningful deterrent and smuggling gangs laughing all the way to the bank.
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