A man who was deported to France under the “one-in, one-out” deal has re-entered the UK on a small boat, as the number of migrant arrivals via the English Channel passed the total for 2024.
The Iranian national has been detained and the Home Office intends to send him back to France again, it is understood.
Meanwhile, the number of migrants who have come to the UK so far this year in small boats has exceeded the total for the whole of last year, sources said.
In 2024, 36,816 migrants made the journey, with that figure now topped in 2025 with two months of the year remaining.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said “we must go further and faster” in preventing people from making the dangerous crossings as she blamed the previous Tory government for leaving “our borders in crisis”.
The man who came back to the UK on October 18, after being sent to France on September 19, told the Guardian he was a victim of modern slavery at the hands of smugglers in the north of the country.
“If I had felt that France was safe for me I would never have returned to the UK,” the man 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.
“Every day and every night I was filled with terror and stress. Every day I live in fear and anxiety, every loud noise, every shadow, every strange face scares me.
“When I reached UK the first time and Home Office asked what had happened to me I was crying and couldn’t speak about this because of shame.”
The returns deal struck between Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron earlier this year is aimed at creating a disincentive for the Channel crossing.
The treaty means people who arrive in the UK by small boat can be detained and returned to France, in exchange for an equivalent number of people who applied through a safe and legal route.
But in a blow to the Prime Minister’s efforts to curb crossings, Home Office figures showed the cumulative number of migrants to have made the journey so far this year stood at 36,734 up to and including Tuesday.
This was just 82 short of the 36,816 migrants who arrived during the whole of last year, and sources confirmed that arrivals on Wednesday meant that milestone has now been surpassed.
A group of migrants were seen boarding a small boat towards the UK on Gravelines beach in northern France at first light on Wednesday.
Roughly 30 people were pictured scrambling aboard a dinghy before it set off towards Dover, while French police vehicles in the sand dunes tried to search for and deter potential crossings.
Official figures that include the latest arrivals are expected to be released by Thursday.
Ms Mahmood said: “The previous government left our borders in crisis, and we are still living with the consequences. These figures are shameful – the British people deserve better.
“This Government is taking action. We have detained and removed more than 35,000 who were here illegally. Our historic deal with the French means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.
“But it is clear we must go further and faster – removing more of those here illegally, and stopping migrants from making small boat crossings in the first place.
“And I have been clear: I will do whatever it takes to restore order to our border.”
In relation to the man who came back to the UK on a small boat from France, a Home Office spokesperson said: “We will not accept any abuse of our borders, and we will do everything in our power to remove those without the legal right to be here.
“Individuals who are returned under the pilot and subsequently attempt to re-enter the UK illegally will removed.”
The man was picked up by Border Force because of biometric checks.
Sir Keir met Western Balkans leaders on Wednesday as the UK seeks to agree further measures to bring down the number of migrants arriving illegally.
Some 22,000 people were smuggled by gangs last year along routes through the region, which has become increasingly important to tackling illegal migration across Europe.
Last year, small boat crossings made up 4% of overall immigration to the UK, but more than 80% of unauthorised arrivals.
Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp, who was in government when a record number of small boat migrants arrived in 2022, said: “The Channel is now a conveyor belt for illegal immigration… And today we learn that even when we deport them, they simply hop back on the next dinghy.
“Keir Starmer’s government has created the world’s first revolving-door deportation scheme. This is a national humiliation.”
Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson said the latest migrant arrival figures were “deeply concerning and frankly shocking”.
He urged the Government to “stop hotels being used to house asylum seekers in town and city centres up and down the country and secure serious and large-scale returns agreements with all safe countries so that those who don’t have a right to be here can be swiftly returned”.
Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon said: “Many men, women and children taking dangerous journeys across the Channel are fleeing countries like Sudan, where they have been forced from their homes by brutal regimes or the horrors of war.
“For the real people behind these numbers, there is usually no safe alternative.
“It is the lack of legal pathways that drives people into the hands of smugglers and onto flimsy boats that put their lives at risk.
“To prevent dangerous crossings, the UK must create more safe and legal routes. That means reopening family reunion visas to allow refugees to reunite with their partner or children in Britain, as well as expanding schemes that give people a secure way to reach the UK.”
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