Keir Starmer’s migrant deal descends further into farce as four more return | Politics | News
Four more migrants deported to France under Keir Starmerโs โone in one outโ scheme have returned to the UK.
The asylum seekers arrived in lorries over the past two weeks, it is understood.
And the migrants revealed how people smugglers are loitering outside a shelter in Paris for those returned to France after crossing the Channel on a small boat.
But the revelations are another damaging blow to Labourโs flagship return scheme.
The first two migrants were detected in lorries on March 5 and March, it is understood, while another two arrived on March 12.
Alarmingly for the Home Office, only two have been detained, with said to be living under the radar in London.
One of the two men in detention told The Guardian: โThe smugglers know where the shelter is in Paris where people sleep in the first few days after being returned to France.
โThey caught me near the shelter and sent me back to UK by force in a lorry. The smugglers have guns, they control everything, we have to try to stay alive.โ
The second man who returned said he was also caught by smugglers close to the Paris shelter and forced back to the UK in a lorry. He was not caught on arrival in the UK but went to a police station to declare himself and was subsequently detained. โI donโt want to live illegally in any country,โ he said. โI canโt survive without documentation. France is not safe for me.โ
Some 377 small-boat migrants have been returned to France under the deal that was agreed by Sir Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron last July.
This is just 2 per cent of the 18,790 migrants who have arrived on small boats since the one in, one out treaty came into effect in August.
The scheme descended into farce when a migrant returned to the UK by small boat in October. The Iranian had been deported in September.
A second migrant returned on Nov 8 on a small boat after being removed on Oct 16.
A Home Office spokesperson said: โFrance is our closest migration partner and through our joint work, 40,000 small boat crossing attempts have been stopped since this Government came into office. French maritime forces have agreed to intercept small boats on the water and our landmark agreement means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.
โIndividuals who try to return are detected by biometrics, detained instantly and returned at the earliest opportunity, having wasted their time and money.โ
