UK-France migrant exchange scheme stops taking new cases

The UK-France migrant exchange scheme has stopped accepting new cases, the UK Home Office said Wednesday, ending a pilot that allowed Britain to return some people who crossed the English Channel in small boats while France sent an equivalent number of asylum seekers to the UK through a legal route. Flights deporting people already detained under the arrangement are expected to continue in the coming weeks, the department said. Home Office data show that from August 2025 to June 2026, 1,117 asylum seekers were admitted to the UK from France under the scheme and 1,087 people were deported to France. The figures cover that period only and do not establish the scheme’s overall effect on Channel crossings. The agreement initially set a target of 2,600 exchanges and was intended to run for three years, but included a clause allowing either country to end it earlier. UK Interior Minister Shabana Mahmood told Parliament this month that the numbers involved remained relatively small and that expanding removals into France presented operational difficulties.