A migrant who returned to Britain after being deported as part of a one in, one out deal is being “fast-tracked” back to France, Keir Starmer has said.
The prime minister vowed that the UK would remove him again “very, very swiftly” as he denied his government’s approach to stopping small boats crossing the channel was “in tatters”.
Sir Keir saidthe Iranian man was already in detention and “he will now be fast-tracked back out of the country, because we obviously have his details”.
“We know he hasn’t got a claim to make, therefore we’ll remove him very, very swiftly. So his return journey back to the United Kingdom is completely pointless, and it’s really important I make that absolutely clear.”
He said no when asked whether the government’s approach to stopping small boats was “in tatters”.
The man returned to the UK in a small boat, marking a humiliating blow for Sir Keir and his pledge to take back control of Britain’s borders.
The news emerged on the same day that the number of migrant arrivals via the English Channel so far this year passed the total for the whole of 2024.
But the deputy PM has claimed the identification of the man was a sign of “progress”.
David Lammy said that it “actually reveals that the individual, who spent thousands of pounds trying to get into this country, as a result of his biometric data can be sent back and that is progress”.
Earlier, children’s minister Josh MacAlister had dismissed the man’s claim to be a victim of modern slavery as “ludicrous”, telling Times Radio: “France is a safe country.”
The man, who is currently being held at an immigration detention centre, told The Guardian he is a victim of modern slavery at the hands of smugglers in northern France.
“If I had felt that France was safe for me, I would never have returned to the UK,” he told the newspaper.
“When we were returned to France, we were taken to a shelter in Paris. I didn’t dare to go out because I was afraid for my life. The smugglers are very dangerous. They always carry weapons and knives. I fell into the trap of a human trafficking network in the forests of France before I crossed to the UK from France the first time.
“They took me like a worthless object, forced me to work, abused me, and threatened me with a gun and told me I would be killed if I made the slightest protest.
“When I reached UK the first time and [the] Home Office asked what had happened to me, I was crying and couldn’t speak about this because of shame.”
Just 42 people so far have been returned to France under the agreement, announced with great fanfare by the PM and French president Emmanuel Macron in July and designed to create a deterrent, convincing migrants there is no point in making the dangerous Channel crossing – as they could just be sent straight back.
Under its terms, for each small boat migrant returned, one asylum seeker will be allowed to enter the UK from France under a legal route.
At the time, Sir Keir hailed it as a “breakthrough moment” which would “turn the tables” on the people smugglers – but a Downing Street spokesperson on Wednesday said the policy was not a “silver bullet” to tackle the problem.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has accused the government of being in “total chaos” and “too weak to take the tough decisions to secure our borders”.
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson said Labour had to “back up their big promises with actions”.
