KEIR Starmer has been accused of seeking to trade “vulnerable human beings like cargo” after agreeing a “one in, one out” asylum deal with France.
The Prime Minister struck a bargain with Emmanuel Macron on Thursday, the last day of the French president’s state visit to the UK, which will see Britain accepting migrants with links to the country in exchange for sending others back across the Channel.
More than 21,000 people have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel so far this year, which is a record for this point in the year since data collection began in 2018.
But the plans have drawn stinging criticism from human rights charities.
Freedom from Torture said that a “one in, one out” deal would be “dehumanising”.
Sile Reynolds, the charity’s head of asylum advocacy, said: “We must never forget that the men, women and children risking their lives to cross the Channel are fleeing unimaginable violence. Many are survivors of torture, and they tell us that finding a place of safety means being reunited with family and living in a country that values human rights and fairness.
“This is true not just for a select few, to be cherry-picked for transfer to the UK under the agreement with France, but for so many of those who currently have no safe and accessible way to find protection in the UK.
"A system that horse-trades vulnerable human beings like cargo is not only unfair and dehumanising but fails the test of ensuring safety and access to protection for those who really need it.”
She warned that if the “UK shirks its responsibilities”, other countries would be emboldened to do the same, adding: “The inevitable consequence of this race to the bottom is the increased risk that survivors of torture and trauma are pushed back to countries with appalling human rights records, or even back into the hands of their torturers.
“Instead of more deterrence gimmicks, the Government should instead show true global leadership by rebuilding an asylum system that is fair, effective, and compassionate.”
Asylum Matters executive director Louise Calvey said: “Another grubby trade in human lives will do nothing more than remove people from this country back into the hands of people smugglers, back to French shores where they’ll face the escalating police violence that has been agreed alongside this deal – violence that will cost people their lives.
“The only way to stop people from making dangerous journeys is to give them safe routes to seek sanctuary.”
Steve Smith, CEO of the charity Care4Calais, said: "In opposition, Keir Starmer railed against Tory gimmicks. Now he’s creating his own.
"The ‘new enforcement tactics’ he lauds will only risk more lives as French police hostility, such as intercepting boats in the water, forces people to take ever dangerous measures in order to seek sanctuary in the UK.”
French police were filmed last week slashing an inflatable boat carrying men, women and children in shallow water off a beach south of Boulogne.
Flora Alexander, executive director of the International Rescue Committee, said: "This agreement marks yet another step in the wrong direction – doubling down on deterrence rather than offering meaningful protection.
"Prioritising tougher enforcement without creating safe, legal routes is both dangerous and ineffective. Evidence shows that these policies don’t stop people from seeking safety – they simply force them into more perilous journeys, putting lives at risk."
Speaking at a press conference in Northwood military headquarters in Hertfordshire, Starmer said: "For the very first time, migrants arriving via small boat will be detained and returned to France in short order.”
He said that for every asylum seeker sent to France, another would "be allowed to come here via a safe route, controlled and legal, subject to strict security checks and only open to those who have not tried to enter the UK illegally".
A pilot will be implemented "in the coming weeks", Starmer added.
