Sending a small boat migrant back to France now costs just under £50,000 per person under Sir Keir Starmer’s one-in, one-out deal, it has been revealed.
Analysis by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford suggests a single flight from Stansted to Paris – carrying 32 male migrants alongside 73 escorts and two paramedics – could cost taxpayers up to £1.52million.
The research found the cost of removing a migrant has risen sharply from around £15,000 per person a decade ago.
The total includes casework, charter flights and financial support provided to migrants after they leave the UK.
As part of the one-in, one-out scheme, Britain bears the cost of transporting migrants to and from France.
An HM Inspectorate of Prisons report found the men had all arrived in the UK on small boats and were being held at Brook House, Harmondsworth and Tinsley House immigration removal centres.
In total, 498 people have been returned to France, while 482 have arrived in the UK via the legal route since the deal was struck.
Last week, GB News revealed that 21,172 migrants had crossed the Channel since the scheme – intended as a deterrent – was introduced.
498 people have been sent back to France and 482 have come to the UK through the ‘one-in, one-out’ deal
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Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp told GB News: “This weak Home Secretary’s small boat policy lies in tatters.
“More illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel under Keir Starmer than any other Prime Minister and numbers are up 45 per cent since the election. Their claim to smash the gangs is a laughing stock.”
Reform UK’s home affairs spokesman Zia Yusuf added: “Keir Starmer’s ‘one in, one out’ deal was nothing more than a hopeless gimmick, and this proves it.”
Britain and France’s border patrol deal had been due to expire in March but was extended by two months as negotiations continued.
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Sir Keir Starmer’s migrant deal has been called a ‘failure’ and ‘hopeless gimmick’ by critics
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France rejected an offer to deploy British Border Force vessels to intercept small boat migrants, according to French newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné.
The paper also reported that British taxpayers funded nearly £20million for a helicopter used by elite French riot police.
Migrants have recently circulated a guide on how to successfully claim asylum in the UK.
In one case, a migrant was heard falsely claiming to be a member of the Bidoon community, a stateless Arab minority primarily based in Kuwait.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp described the one-in one-out deal as a ‘failure’
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He falsely claimed he had been imprisoned and tortured for taking part in political demonstrations, The Telegraph reported.
Last week, four people drowned while attempting to board a small boat in Calais.
A Sudanese national has been charged with allegedly piloting the vessel and is due to appear in court next month.
Mr Philp told The Sun: “The one-in one-out scheme is a failure.
“No wonder more illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel under Keir Starmer than any other prime minister.”
A Home Office spokesman said: “Illegal migrants and foreign criminals are given escorts where risk assessments show they are needed.
“Since the 2024 election, the Government has saved close to £1billion in asylum costs and returned or deported nearly 60,000 people.”
