More migrants arrive in UK than leave in first 11 months of Starmer's 'one in one out' deal
Some 1,117 asylum seekers came to Britain from France from August 2025 to June 2026 while slightly fewer (1,087) were deported
More migrants arrived in the UK than were sent back to France in the first 11 months of the Government’s “one in, one out” deal, figures show.
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Some 1,117 asylum seekers came to Britain from France from August 2025 to June 2026 while slightly fewer (1,087) were deported, according to Home Office data published on Thursday.
Under the terms of the deal aimed at curbing migrant Channel crossings, people who arrived in the UK after making the journey could be detained and returned to France in exchange for an equivalent number of asylum seekers who apply through a safe and legal route.
It is the first time official figures on the pilot scheme have been published since the agreement came into force on August 6 2025.
The data confirms no migrants were returned or arrived in the first month the deal was in operation.
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A breakdown of the figures shows that in some months there were more transfers out than in, such as March 2026, when 109 people left and 73 arrived.
Other months have seen more transfers in than out, such as June 2026, when 314 arrived and 264 left.
Downing Street previously defended the plan, which was initially set to run until June, insisting the numbers would “fluctuate”.
At the time, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told LBC there were “practical issues around how quickly you can detain people and then get them on a plane and move them out to France” and later vowed to “ramp up the numbers”.
A family of three, including a young child, were the first group of migrants to arrive in the UK in September under the immigration deal.
It is understood they were granted three-month visas with no right to work and no recourse to public funds.
At least two migrants tried to come back to the UK by crossing the Channel again after being returned to France under the deal, but were detained and due to be sent back again, officials said.
Last week, Ms Mahmood vowed to fight a High Court ruling which found her decision to cut protections for potential trafficking victims being considered under the scheme was unlawful.