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France and the UK have agreed to extend their “one-in, one-out” migrant returns agreement until 1 October, a French minister said on Wednesday.
The scheme, known as Operation Hillmore, came into force in September last year as part of efforts by London and Paris to tackle illegal migration across the English Channel.
Under the arrangement, Britain can return some migrants to France who arrive illegally by small boats and are deemed not to have a right to remain in the UK.
In exchange, Britain accepts an equivalent number of asylum seekers from France who are considered likely to qualify for protection, with priority given to vulnerable nationalities and people with family or other links to the UK.
“It has been decided with our British partner to extend this agreement until 1 October, 2026,” France’s minister delegate for Europe, Benjamin Haddad, told a parliamentary committee on Wednesday.
Haddad said that as of 1 May, a total of 606 migrants had been readmitted to France under the scheme, while 588 people had been legally transferred from France to the United Kingdom.
UK Home Office figures show that 16,910 people arrived in the country by small boats between 1 September 2025 and 31 March 2026. Figures for April are not available yet but the statistics show that 3.5% of arrivals have been returned under the new policy.
The figures provide one of the clearest indications so far of the scale of the programme despite UK government claims that it would act as a deterrent to people-smuggling gangs.
France has long been a departure point for migrants seeking to reach Britain. Many pay smugglers thousands of euros for a place on overcrowded inflatable boats to make the dangerous crossing of one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
The UK has announced a series of new measures in the latest attempt to curb illegal immigration through the Immigration and Asylum Bill last month.
It aims to reduce the period in which asylum seekers can remain in the country by 50% and expedite the removal of individuals whose country of origin is deemed safe.
More than 41,000 migrants arrived on England’s south coast in 2025, the second-highest annual total since records began in 2018.
Overall, 197,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats since the route emerged as a major migration pathway.
The issue remains a significant political challenge for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government.
Starmer, who took office in July 2024, and Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood have faced mounting pressure to reduce arrivals, with the anti-immigration Reform UK party continuing to perform strongly in opinion polls.
The UK Home Office has been approached for comment.
Additional sources • AFP