Man deported to France under returns deal re-enters UK on small boat

A migrant who was deported to France under the “one-in, one-out” deal has re-entered the UK on a small boat.

The man has been detained and the Home Office intends to send him back to France again, it is understood. He told the Guardian he was a victim of modern slavery at the hands of smugglers in northern France. “If I had felt that France was safe for me I would never have returned to the UK,” the man told the newspaper. “When we were 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. They always carry weapons and knives. I fell into the trap of a human trafficking network in the forests of France before I crossed to the UK from France the first time. “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. “Every day and every night I was filled with terror and stress. Every day I live in fear and anxiety, every loud noise, every shadow, every strange face scares me. “When I reached UK the first time and Home Office asked what had happened to me I was crying and couldn’t speak about this because of shame.” The returns deal struck between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year is aimed at creating a disincentive for the dangerous Channel crossing. The treaty means people who arrive in the UK by small boat can be detained and returned to France, in exchange for an equivalent number of people who applied through a safe and legal route. A Home Office spokesperson said: “We will not accept any abuse of our borders, and 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 removed.” Sir Keir is meeting with Western Balkans leaders on Wednesday as the UK seeks to agree further measures to bring down the number of migrants arriving illegally. Some 22,000 people were smuggled by gangs last year along routes through the region, which has become increasingly important to tackling illegal migration across Europe. The number of migrant arrivals in small boats in the UK has topped 36,000 in 2025 so far, and is close to exceeding the 36,816 which was the total number of arrivals in 2024. Last year, small boat crossings made up 4% of overall immigration to the UK, but more than 80% of unauthorised arrivals. On Wednesday morning, a group of migrants were seen boarding a small boat towards the UK at first light leaving many others on the French coast after a dinghy deflated. A group of men and women carrying some small children were pictured waiting to cross the Channel on Gravelines beach in northern France. Having moved onto the beach in darkness, avoiding the French police, the group of migrants waited at the water’s edge as a black dinghy came towards them. It quickly became clear though that before the migrants could board the boat, it had begun to deflate. As the sun rose the dinghy was beached and the group of migrants, many still wearing orange life vests, were left waiting on the sand. Elsewhere on Gravelines beach, a separate group of people were then seen dashing from the sand dunes into the water, as a second boat arrived. Roughly 30 people were pictured scrambling aboard the dinghy before it set off across the Channel towards Dover. French Police vehicles were in the sand dunes trying to search for and deter potential crossings.

Published: 22/10/2025 by Radio NewsHub