A fifth, Eritrean, man has won a High Court ruling placing a temporary block on his deportation. The Home Office was refused permission to appeal by the Court of Appeal on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
The deal, which had an initial target of exchanging 50 migrants between the UK and France each week, was designed to stem the arrival of tens of thousands of migrants from France to the UK in small boats.<\/p>\n
This year, more than 32,000 people have made the journey. Last week, UK Home Office figures showed that 1,072 people crossed the English Channel in 13 boats \u2013 an average of more than 82 people per boat \u2013 on September 19 alone.<\/p>\n
How does the one-in-one-out agreement with France work?<\/p>\n
Under the one-in-one-out agreement<\/a>, France will accept the return of asylum seekers who crossed to the UK but cannot prove a family connection to the UK.<\/p>\n For each migrant France takes back, the UK will grant asylum to one migrant who has arrived from France and who can prove they have family connections in the UK.<\/p>\n The deal emerged after a bilateral summit between British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in London back in July.<\/p>\n The UK ultimately hopes that those with connections to the country will wait to be brought from France via this agreement, rather than attempt to cross the English Channel in a small boat, while those without connections will not try to cross. Experts say it is unlikely to deter people determined to travel to the UK, however.<\/p>\n Why was this agreement made?<\/p>\n The deal was introduced to discourage migrants from making risky crossings over the English Channel from France to the UK in small boats.<\/p>\n A rising number of immigrants have tried to cross from France to the UK in recent months, Peter Walsh, a senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at Oxford University, told Al Jazeera in July.<\/p>\n Many of those without visas or permission to enter the UK attempt the dangerous crossing in small inflatable boats, often paying large sums to gangs that arrange the journeys. These crossings are extremely dangerous and have resulted<\/a> in many deaths<\/a>.<\/p>\n So far this year, more than 30,000 people have attempted to cross.<\/p>\n The UK and France have each laid the blame on the other for the rise in numbers.<\/p>\n UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has been facing domestic pressure to put a stop to undocumented migration to the UK.<\/p>\n Since his Labour Party won the last general election in a landslide in July 2024, its popularity has plummeted, in part as a result of the failure to stop the small boat crossings from France. Starmer himself dropped in popularity by 19 percentage points between July 2024 and August 2025, according to pollster YouGov.<\/p>\n
![\"boats\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2231321648-1758703016.jpg\")
A girl is carried on a man\u2019s shoulders as migrants wade into the sea to try to board a dinghy to cross the English Channel on August 25, 2025, in Gravelines, France [Carl Court\/Getty Images]What have been the reactions to the UK-France migrant deal?<\/p>\n