The first group of asylum seekers removed to France under the “one in, one out” scheme includes potential victims of modern slavery, people suffering severe depression and those with family in the UK, a new report has found.
Humans For Rights Network (HFRN) interviewed those returned after crossing the Channel in small boats in mid-October while they were staying in their initial accommodation – a marquee next to a railway track in Paris.
The research was announced after the Guardian revealed that an Iranian asylum seeker, who was sent to France last month, returned to the UK just 29 days later and is being held in an immigration detention centre.
He has been referred to the national referral mechanism to investigate a claim that he is a victim of trafficking. The prime minister said on Thursday that the government was planning to expedite the man’s return to France.
A charity that has maintained contact with some of those returned to France has said that more of them may attempt to return to the UK due to the reception conditions in France.
The UK-France “one in, one out” treaty, which came into force on 6 August, allows the UK to detain and rapidly remove people who enter via small boats. In return, the UK will accept an equal number of people through a newly established safe and legal route, subject to security checks.
At the time of HFRN’s research, 24 people had been returned to France and they interviewed 12 of them.
At least three of them had relatives in the UK, including two people with sisters and one with an aunt. One man told the Guardian that he reunited with his sister in the UK for the first time in more than a decade when she visited him in a detention centre. But the contact was brief after he was removed to France shortly afterwards.
Four of the men claimed to be victims of modern slavery – two having experienced it in Libya, one in Ethiopia and one in Yemen. One man was blind in one eye while two others were suffering from severe depression and one experiencing suicidal ideation.
“Overwhelmingly these men were distressed and confused, some had no contact with their lawyer, while others were unsure about what their lawyers had done to make representations regarding these experiences,” the report said.
“HFRN considers that many of the men they engaged with have significant case facts indicating their removal should never have taken place.” The charity claimed accounts of torture from some of the men were not fully investigated by the Home Office before their removal to France.
The Home Office is continuing to return asylum seekers to France who arrive in the UK on small boats, with 42 returned last week in return for 23 asylum seekers brought to the UK. The Home Office initially flew small numbers to France on Air France jets but has now switched to using private charters for deportations. It is thought that at least 10 more people were removed from UK detention centres to France on Wednesday.
A spokesperson for Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group, which supports immigration detainees, said: “We are hearing from people who have been removed to France that they have been given no guidance on how to claim asylum or access legal support there. The impact on people who are currently detained for France is causing further anxiety and confusion, as well as suicidal thoughts.
“People in France have reported that they cannot access medical care, do not understand what is happening in their case, and many are frightened of being harmed or found by smugglers. People tell us they may risk their lives again and undertake unsafe journeys through desperation.”
One asylum seeker, who is part of a group of 11 who have been moved from Paris to new accommodation in Marseille, told the Guardian: “We don’t know what is happening to us. I have been given an appointment with the French authorities for next Monday but nobody has told me what it is for.
“Many of us have been threatened with removal to other EU countries because we were previously fingerprinted in those countries. Some people are scared of this happening and have now left the accommodation and are sleeping on the streets.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Those arriving in the UK on small boats illegally will now be detained and returned thanks to the deal. We make no apologies for cracking down on illegal migration and securing our borders, and we are ramping up the pilot. We continue to work closely with our French counterparts to ensure the pilot operates effectively.”