ENGLISH CHANNEL — The Home Office has extended its pilot "one in, one out" asylum returns scheme with France until October 1, according to Home Office sources. The arrangement, which was due to end on June 11, is aimed at deterring small-boat crossings of the English Channel and disrupting people-smuggling gangs.

Under the deal signed last July by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron, one asylum seeker who arrives in the United Kingdom by small boat is returned to France in exchange for another asylum seeker in France being brought to the U.K. through legal channels.

As of April 28, 605 people had been returned to France and 581 people had come to the U.K. under the scheme.

"Under our returns agreement with France, we have deported more than 600 illegal migrants from British soil. This contributes to the nearly 60,000 illegal migrants who have been returned since July 2024 up 31% on the 19 months prior. This is just one part of our wider reforms to remove the incentives that draw illegal migrants to the UK and ramp up the return of those with no right to be here," a Home Office spokesperson said.

Since the deal was signed, thousands of asylum seekers have continued to cross the English Channel in small boats. The number of small boat crossings so far this year has fallen by approximately a third compared with the same period last year. Many windy days in recent months have made Channel crossings too dangerous.

People-smuggling gangs have adapted by launching vessels from Belgium and offering journeys in lorries to bypass police patrols on French beaches, according to Home Office sources.