A planned deportation under the UK’s new "one‑in, one‑out" arrangement with France was abandoned on Monday after lawyers for a migrant filed last‑minute legal challenges, officials and campaigners said.
The migrant, who arrived in Britain across the Channel last month, had been due to be returned on a scheduled Air France service to Paris. The removal was called off shortly before departure after legal papers were submitted contesting the transfer.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs in her first Home Office questions since taking office that she was in touch with French counterparts and that the returns would take place "as soon as possible." "International cooperation is the key for us securing our borders here at home, and assisting our international partners to do the same with their borders as well," she said in the House of Commons.
The bilateral agreement, struck in July between Labour leader Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, took effect on Aug. 7. Under the deal, the UK and France exchange migrants on a one‑for‑one basis: people who arrived illegally in Britain may be returned to France in exchange for those in France who meet criteria such as family connections in the UK or higher probabilities of being granted asylum.
Officials say the UK will cover the transport costs for both sides of swaps. Migrants brought from France to Britain under the arrangement receive a temporary visa of up to three months while their applications are considered, and UK authorities have said they will carry out security checks on arrivals. French authorities, however, will not provide personal data about migrants sent to the UK, including criminal records, officials said. The Home Office declined to discuss operational details of the returns scheme.
Campaign groups in both countries had sought to disrupt the operation. Britain's Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants (JCWI) and the French charity Auberge des Migrants organised protests aimed at Air France, urging the carrier not to participate. The JCWI published a template script for members of the public to lodge complaints with the airline, describing deportations as "cruel" and suggesting that crew could refuse to carry people they believed might be disruptive.
The strategy of using scheduled services rather than charter flights appears to be a response to operational and political sensitivities. Early plans to use charter aircraft for larger groups were reportedly shelved in favour of placing small numbers, or single migrants, on regular commercial flights accompanied by up to half a dozen Home Office escort officers.
Labour's Shadow Home Secretary had warned the scheme might face a "slew of last‑minute legal challenges," and about 100 migrants are understood to have been detained for potential removal under the exchange since the deal took effect. Campaigners and lawyers have increasingly used urgent court filings and injunctions to delay or prevent removals in recent months.
The aborted transfer will be politically sensitive for the government as crossings in the Channel have risen sharply. So far this year, 31,026 people have reached Britain by small boats, a 38% increase on the same period last year, and 5,435 arrivals were recorded since the deal's implementation on Aug. 7, officials said.
Ministers have stressed the bilateral arrangement with France as a central plank of their strategy to deter Channel crossings and break people‑smuggling networks, portraying it as a practical step beyond previous bilateral rhetoric. Opposition parties and campaign groups have questioned its legal robustness and humanitarian impact, raising concerns about removals without full information about those being exchanged.
Legal challenges and public campaigning are now likely to be a recurring feature of attempted removals under the scheme, and the Home Office faces logistical and legal hurdles before routine returns can proceed. Ms. Mahmood declined to set a firm timetable but reiterated the government’s intent to resume removals once outstanding legal and operational issues are addressed.
The Home Office has not released detailed figures on how many exchanges are planned over the coming months or how security checks on incoming migrants from France will interact with French data restrictions. The delayed removal highlights the contested and complex nature of implementing international migration agreements amid rising arrivals and active legal opposition.