Small Boat Migrants Who Dream of Staying in the UK May Have a Reason to Celebrate After a Major Revelation About Labour’s Deportation Deal

France refused to take back up to half of the migrants Britain wanted to return under Labour’s controversial “one in, one out” agreement, according to a new report from the UK’s immigration watchdog.

The agreement was introduced in 2025 under former Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who promised that it would help reduce the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats.

Under the deal, Britain was allowed to return certain migrants who had crossed the Channel to France. In exchange, the UK would accept a similar number of migrants through a legal route.

However, a new report has revealed that the agreement faced serious problems, with French authorities refusing to accept many of the migrants Britain wanted to send back.

John Tuckett, the Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration, said the Home Office struggled because French officials did not clearly explain why certain migrants were being rejected.

According to the inspector, France used data protection rules to limit the information it shared with British immigration officials.

This meant Home Office staff sometimes spent time and resources preparing to return migrants, only to discover later that France would not accept them.

Mr Tuckett explained that the rejection rate reached as high as 50% in some groups of migrants.

He said better communication between the two countries could have prevented unnecessary work and helped officials manage the returns more effectively.

The agreement eventually came to an end in October after France refused to sign another deal with Britain.

Instead, French officials reportedly wanted the UK Government to negotiate a wider agreement with the European Union.

Figures released in the report showed that 1,631 migrants were returned to France under the scheme, while Britain accepted 1,496 migrants in exchange.

Although more people were returned than accepted, the number of removals was still much lower than the Government had hoped.

Home Office officials had planned to increase returns to 100 migrants every week by the middle of May 2026.

However, the department failed to reach that target.

According to Mr Tuckett, a plan introduced in February 2026 was supposed to increase the number of weekly returns and maintain that level for at least four weeks.

The Government also planned to operate two charter flights every week to return migrants to France.

But by early May, preparations were already running around two weeks behind schedule, and the target of 100 returns per week had still not been achieved.

The report has raised fresh questions about whether the agreement was effective in discouraging migrants from making dangerous journeys across the English Channel.

The findings also come after another group of 21 migrants reportedly reached the Kent coast without being intercepted.

The group arrived at Samphire Hoe, where they were met by officers.

It was reportedly the third such incident this year, raising further concerns about Britain’s ability to monitor and control small boat crossings.

The watchdog’s findings also support concerns previously raised by a senior official who spoke to the Daily Express in May.

The official claimed that the number of migrants being returned to France was far too low to discourage others from attempting the journey.

According to the source, officials had hoped to return around 200 migrants every week, but at that point only about 30 people were being removed.

The source also explained that Britain had limited detention spaces and could only hold around 75 newly arrived migrants at a time.

This created another problem because officials could not detain and return large numbers of people quickly enough.

The official said the Government needed more detention facilities, more charter flights and better cooperation from France to make the agreement work.

However, the source also pointed out that France was an independent country and could decide whether to accept migrants being returned from Britain.

The official suggested that French authorities were reluctant to take people back, even when financial support was involved.

There were also concerns that the Government had underestimated the difficulties involved in returning migrants.

The source claimed that staff had warned officials about these problems but their concerns were not properly addressed.

The latest findings have now raised further questions about the future of Britain’s immigration policies and whether similar agreements with European countries can successfully reduce illegal Channel crossings.

With the previous agreement having ended and the Government failing to meet its original targets, attention is now turning to what measures Britain will introduce next to deal with small boat arrivals.