Hundreds of migrants returned to France under UK deal have disappeared, Guardian reports

Hundreds of illegal migrants, including more than 40 “age-disputed” children, who were returned from the UK to France under the “one in, one out” deal have disappeared, the Guardian has reported, citing human rights organizations.

The migrant exchange scheme was brokered by Paris and London last summer and hailed as a “groundbreaking” achievement at the time. Under the deal, the UK is able to return illegal migrants who cross the Channel to France while accepting asylum seekers with legitimate claims who had not previously attempted to enter Britain illegally.

The scheme has proven to have a very limited impact, with around 1,400 migrants returned since it was signed in September last year, compared with around 32,000 illegal arrivals. Moreover, hundreds of migrants sent back to France under the scheme have disappeared altogether, the Guardian reported, citing figures provided by NGO representatives working on the ground.

Among them were at least 41 “age-disputed” people – individuals claiming to be unaccompanied minors – according to Maddie Harris, director of the Humans for Rights Network. Holding unaccompanied minors in adult immigration detention centers is illegal, and such migrants are excluded from the “one in, one out” deal.

The Home Office has strongly denied the allegations, insisting that all those returned were adults. “This is categorically untrue. Nobody has been returned to France, where their age is in dispute,” it told the newspaper.

The fate of the deal itself remains unclear, with the agreement set to expire in October and neither side explicitly confirming or denying whether it will be extended. According to British media reports, Paris now wants to scrap the existing arrangement and replace the bilateral scheme with an EU-wide deal with the UK.

French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has reportedly already conveyed this intention to his British counterpart, Shabana Mahmood, and told her that Paris would not prolong the existing scheme. Under the French proposal, London would be obliged to receive migrants from all 27 EU member states in exchange for those returned to the bloc.

“For our part, we want to move away from this bilateral relationship with the UK. We consider that France should not have to carry it alone and that it would be better to integrate it into an agreement between the EU and UK,” Nunez reportedly told a French parliamentary inquiry.