UK: More deaths in the Channel ― Legal proceedings relating to small boat crossings ― End of ‘One in, one out’ migration scheme ― NGO documents injuries on people returned to France ― NGO reports disappearance of ‘hundreds’ of returnees ― Government an…
- At least four people have died in separate incidents in the Channel in September.
- There have been several legal proceedings relating to small boat Channel crossings in recent weeks.
- The UK-France migration deal has been scrapped.
- An NGO has reported multiple injuries on people who were returned to France under the “One in, one out” scheme.
- An NGO has reported that “hundreds” of people who were returned to France under the “One in, one out” scheme have disappeared.
- The government has announced the (re)opening of a number of safe and legal routes for refugees.
At least four people have died in separate incidents in the Channel in September. On 28 September, French authorities reported that a 10-year-old child and two 30-year-old women had died after a boat that had departed from a beach in Sangatte got into difficulty. According to Pas-de-Calais Prefect François-Xavier Lauch, initial findings indicated that the three people may have been crushed to death on the boat which was carrying 105 people. Five days earlier (23 September), a man was found dead on a beach close to Boulogne-sur-Mer. According to the AFP news agency, the man’s death may be linked to the departure of a boat from the same region a few hours earlier.
There have been several legal proceedings relating to small boat Channel crossings in recent weeks. On 18 September, a teenager from South Sudan was sentenced to two years and three months in prison for piloting a dinghy carrying 165 people on 23 July. Chan Mathok Atak was the 16th person to have been convicted of the new offence of endangering others during a sea crossing since it was created in January. On 21 September, five people were detained after a boat arrived close to Folkestone and, on 22 September, 21 people were detained after their boat arrived between Dover and Folkestone. The two incidents were the first time that boats had arrived in the UK without being intercepted in the Channel since September 2025. Most recently, on 30 September, six people smugglers were convicted of the manslaughter of 31 people who died after their boat sank in November 2021. The six men were given prison sentences of between six and 10 years while seven others were given lesser sentences of up to four years. A separate police investigation is ongoing into seven members of the French armed forces who are accused of failing to provide assistance to the people on the boat on the night of the disaster.
The UK-France migration deal has been scrapped. The “One in, one out” scheme, which was announced in July 2025 and took effect three months later, expired on 30 September and has not been renewed. More than 1,400 people who arrived in the UK in small boats were returned to France under the agreement and, as of the end of June, “1,117 people with links to the UK” were brought from the UK to France. Commenting on the deal on 27 September, Mihnea Cuibus from the University of Oxford Migration Observatory said: “In terms of proof of concept, we’ve definitely seen that this scheme can work” while Marley Morris from the Institute for Public Policy Research said: “Obviously, it hasn’t worked at scale”. On 15 September, Home Secretary (Minister of the Interior) Shabana Mahmood told the Home Affairs Committee that the scheme had cost “about £56,000” for every person sent back to France.
An NGO has reported multiple injuries on people who were returned to France under the “One in, one out” scheme. Samusocial Paris (SSP), which had been commissioned by the health agency in the Ile-de-France region to provide short-term healthcare for people who are returned to France from the UK, has documented the cases of 90 young men. According to SSP, “Consultations are revealing signs consistent with recent physical and psychological violence as well as the consequences of prolonged detention in conditions described as particularly degrading”. The NGO also reported that the documented signs were “explicitly linked to the implementation of the France-British agreement” and that the frequency and recurrence of incidents was “particularly worrying”. Describing the “One in, one out” scheme as “a machine for psychological destruction”, Nihal Osman from the NGO Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said: “The deeply concerning physical injuries sustained whilst in detention in the United Kingdom, which we have documented among those deported, must be viewed in the light of a serious psychological deterioration”.
An NGO has reported that “hundreds” of people who were returned to France under the “One in, one out” scheme have disappeared. Speaking in a meeting in the UK parliament in September, the head of the Humans for Rights Network, Maddie Harris, told participants that a number of NGOs had compiled a list of at “least 41” age-disputed children and young people whom they claimed had been unlawfully returned to France. “The vast majority of these children have experienced acute violence and exploitation, and are now without protection,” she said. According to the Guardian newspaper, Home Office sources have stated that what happened to people once they were returned to France was “a matter for the French authorities”.
The government has announced the (re)opening of a number of safe and legal routes for refugees. In her speech to the Labour Party Conference on 28 September, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said that the UK Resettlement Scheme would be reopened in October and that “around a quarter” of the expected arrivals would be Afghan women and girls, and Palestinians. Mahmood also confirmed that applications for a community sponsorship scheme and a student sponsorship route would open in October, and that a work sponsorship route would open in spring 2027. Commenting on the announcements, Jon Featonby from the Refugee Council said: “The government deserves credit for creating new safe and legal routes that will help refugees reach the UK without risking their lives”, adding: “Safe and legal routes are essential to undermining people-smugglers’ business model, but they only work if they operate at scale. That means thousands of places, not hundreds”.
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