Deputy PM calls migrant return 'progress' - Tories slam chaos

UK Border Force vessel brings migrants into Dover port after intercepting them crossing the English Channel (Illustrative image) (Photo by Dan Kitwood/Getty Images) Getty Images

An Iranian man who crossed back to the UK in a small boat after being returned to France has been identified through biometric data. The man was detained after entering the UK a second time on October 18, a month after he was returned to France, and has claimed to be a victim of modern slavery.

The Government intends to send him back to France a second time. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the man's return to the UK showed the Government was "in total chaos".

Political reactions split

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy suggested the identification was actually a positive development. He said: "Today's news actually reveals that the individual, who spent thousands of pounds trying to get into this country, as a result of his biometric data can be sent back and that is progress."

Lammy added: "And of course, we will continue to work with France to ensure that people are properly intercepted and that they are able to do that in a way that is efficient and productive." Children's minister Josh MacAlister dismissed the man's claim to be a victim of modern slavery as "ludicrous", telling Times Radio: "France is a safe country."

Small boat arrivals exceed last year

Details of the man's re-entry emerged as the number of small boat arrivals for this year passed the total for 2024. The number of migrants who have come to the UK so far this year in small boats has exceeded the total of 36,816 for the whole of last year, latest Home Office figures show.

Some 220 people made the journey in three boats on Wednesday, bringing the cumulative total for the year so far to 36,954. The "one in, one out" deal struck between Sir Keir Starmer (Labour) and French president Emmanuel Macron earlier this year is aimed at deterring small boat crossings by enabling deportations of anyone deemed not to have a right to stay in Britain.

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. France had also been expected to change the way it patrolled its waters to intercept the boats, but the BBC has reported that the country is backing away from that commitment, citing French sources.

Asked about reports of French reluctance, Lammy said: "There was a lot of discussion about the use of those tactics and I think it is important that French partners are able to intercept in the right way. And I know that the Home Secretary will be on these issues and working with her French colleagues to make sure that this happens."

Sources used: "PA Media" Note: This article has been created with Artificial Intelligence (AI).