Britain says first migrant returned to France under 'one in, one out' deal

LONDON (Reuters) -Britain has returned the first migrant to France under a "one in, one out" agreement to remove people who arrive on small boats, the interior ministry said on Thursday.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed a pilot scheme, which would see Britain deporting to France undocumented people arriving in small boats, in return for accepting an equal number of legitimate asylum seekers with British family connections.

On Tuesday London's High Court ruled one asylum seeker who arrived in Britain on a small boat could temporarily not be removed to France pending a full legal challenge.

Britain then pledged to fight what it called "vexatious, last minute claims" used to block or delay the deportation of migrants, and on Thursday a Home Office spokesperson confirmed the first migrant had been returned under the scheme.

Starmer's government faces mounting pressure to stop small boats taking asylum seekers across the Channel from Europe, a route by which more than 30,000 people have come so far in 2025.

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; editing by Michael Holden)