Важные судебные решения и новости для иммигрантов

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UK ends 'one in, one out' migrant returns deal with France

Only about 4% of small-boat arrivals were sent back under the year-long pilot, which cost an average of €65,500 per return, as Paris pushes for an EU-wide replacement.

The UK's Home Office said on Wednesday that its year-old deal with France to return migrants crossing the Channel on small boats had ended.

"The government's pilot with France to remove asylum seekers in exchange for an equal number of legal migrants is no longer processing new cases," the Home Office said, confirming the end of the so-called "one in, one out" deal, which was launched in August last year and was due to expire on Thursday.

The scheme, known as Operation Hillmore, was part of efforts by London and Paris to tackle illegal migration across the English Channel.

Under the arrangement, Britain could return to France some migrants who arrived illegally by small boat and were judged to have no right to remain in the UK. In exchange, Britain accepted an equal number of asylum seekers from France considered likely to qualify for protection, with priority given to vulnerable nationalities and people with family or other links to the UK.

The two countries agreed in June to extend the pilot until 1 October. The most recent Home Office figures show that 1,087 people were returned to France between 4 August 2025 and 30 June 2026, while 1,117 were transferred to the UK under the scheme. Over the same period, 27,920 migrants arrived in the UK on small boats, meaning only about 4% of arrivals were sent back.

That was one of the clearest signs of the programme's limited impact, despite government claims that it would deter people-smuggling gangs.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs on 15 September that it cost the UK taxpayer an average of about £56,000 (€65,500) per migrant to return them.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who succeeded Keir Starmer in July, said that Brexit had made stopping small boats harder because the UK no longer had the same level of cooperation with the EU. He declined to set a date for ending the crossings, but told the BBC he and Mahmood would not stop until they had cracked down on "every element of this criminal, illegal activity".

Burnham has said his government is "changing the whole approach" to small boats, pairing tougher enforcement with safe legal routes for asylum seekers, which he argues would take away the smuggling gangs' main selling point.

France's interior minister Laurent Nuñez told lawmakers in June that France wanted a more European approach to illegal migration. He also argued that France should not have to bear sole responsibility for policing an EU external border, blaming weak controls in countries of first entry and onward movement within the Schengen area.

Migrants trying to reach Britain pay smugglers thousands of euros for places on overcrowded inflatable boats to cross one of the world's busiest shipping lanes. Research has also shown a sharp rise this year in small boats setting off from Belgium, as smuggling networks look for new launch points.

Overall, some 197,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats since the route emerged as a major migration pathway.

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British government sets out tougher rules for migrants looking to settle in the UK

British PM Andy Burnham said the UK had "lost control of immigration" following Brexit. "This Home Secretary is gripping this problem, and she has my full support in doing so."

The British government on Monday set out its new "earned settlement model," which will double the amount of time many foreign workers must wait before they are eligible to settle permanently in the United Kingdom.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood confirmed that the qualifying period for "indefinite leave to remain" (ILR) in the UK would jump from five years to 10 years for most workers. ILR gives a person the right to live, work and study in the country for as long as they wish.

High earners will be able to settle "within" three years, while those earning more than £50,271 (around €60,200), as well as some public service workers - including doctors, nurses and teachers – will be able to settle after five years, according to the Labour government.

Mahmood also announced exemptions for care workers following backlash from unions and some figures within the ruling Labour Party to initial proposals to tighten settlement rules.

"Those who earn £25,000 (roughly €29,900) a year working in the social sector care, which was the condition of their visa, will therefore be able to settle on their existing five-year pathway," Mahmood told parliament.

She said the revised policy recognised the service of those who had "worked hard and answered our call when we needed them."

The announcement followed a consultation period that saw the government receive more than 200,000 responses. It said the process had seen people raised concerns about "fairness, complexity and the effect on people already in the UK" but that there was also "support for a system that better recognises contribution, integration and compliance."

The government said its guiding principle moving forward was that "settlement should be earned rather than granted on the basis of time alone."

Under the new policy, people found to have breached immigration rules will have to wait 20 years to settle.

"Anyone who arrived by small boat, or another clandestine means of entry, will face an additional 10-year waiting period – meaning they could wait up to 30 years for settlement," the government said.

Refugees who arrive on approved routes will be able to apply for settlement after five years.

The new rules are reportedly due to come into effect next year. People who already have settled status will not be impacted.

In a statement, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said the country had "lost control of immigration" following the divisive Brexit vote to leave the European Union.

"This Home Secretary is gripping this problem, and she has my full support in doing so," he added.

It comes amid increasing pressure from Britain's right, including from Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, over immigration.

Reform has pledged to scrap indefinite leave to remain should it get into power, instead bringing in a "five-year renewable work visa."

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