'One in, one out' migrant farce as man sent to France comes straight back
The man is currently being held in an immigration detention centre
A man sent back to France under the “one in, one out” scheme has returned to the UK on a small boat just weeks after he was deported.
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The man, who is now being held in a UK immigration detention centre, has claimed to be a victim of modern slavery at the hands of smugglers in France.
It comes as a new report claimed small boat crossings this year have surpassed last year's total
The man told the Guardian: “If I had felt that France was safe for me I would never have returned to the UK."
Read more: Male migrant who posed as female nurse at Letby hospital avoids jail
He said when he returned to France they were taken to a shelter in Paris, but he didn't go out because he was "afraid" for his life.
"The smugglers are very dangerous," he said. "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.“
The asylum seeker told the Guardian the smugglers saw him as "a worthless object", forced him to work and abused him.
He claims he was threatened with a gun and told he would be killed if he protested.
“Every day and every night I was filled with terror and stress," he told the Guardian. "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.”
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.”