Britain is continuing to send asylum seekers to France weeks after its “one in, one out” arrangement ended, the Guardian has reported. Dozens of people are understood to remain in detention, with Home Office sources saying officials are completing returns involving people covered by the scheme before it closed on 1 October.

A charter flight took a group to France on Wednesday, with those aboard thought to have reached Britain by small boat before the arrangement expired. Another flight is scheduled for 17 November. Freedom of information figures show that seven of 23 deportation flights under the scheme were cancelled between July and September, more than twice the number of France deportation flights cancelled during the first six months of 2026.

French President Emmanuel Macron and former prime minister Keir Starmer announced the agreement in July 2025. It sought to discourage Channel crossings by forcibly returning some people arriving by small boat, while allowing a similar number of asylum seekers in northern France to enter Britain legally.

The scheme’s deterrent effect remains disputed. Small boat arrivals have fallen by approximately 40% so far this year compared with the equivalent period in 2025, but irregular migration to Europe has declined by a similar proportion. Following three weeks without crossings, Home Office figures recorded 263 arrivals in three boats on Thursday and another 671 in nine boats on Friday.

Emma Ginn, director of Medical Justice, said vulnerable asylum seekers remained detained ahead of removal despite the scheme’s abandonment. She said the harm associated with immigration detention was being intensified by the prospect of returning to France, where many had reported violence and abuse by smugglers. Other people returned under the arrangement have reported homelessness, while some were told they could be transferred to EU countries they had previously travelled through.

At least seven people removed to France have returned to Britain since 1 October, according to the Guardian. The newspaper interviewed a Syrian man and an Iranian man who both came back within days of the scheme ending and are now having their asylum applications processed in Britain.

The Syrian man said he was initially detained again while officials sought a safe third country to which they could remove him. He said he was released when none was found. The Iranian man said he had spent months planning his return after smugglers tortured and beat him in France, leaving him afraid to go outside.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood told parliament’s cross-party home affairs committee that removals to France had cost at least £78m. Some people returned to Britain after removal and were subsequently sent to France again, adding to the expense. Maddie Harris of Humans for Rights Network criticised the spending and called for accessible safe routes through which people could seek asylum in Britain.

Reports suggest several more people previously removed are waiting in northern France to attempt another crossing during favourable weather expected in the coming days. One asylum seeker in Dunkirk’s “Jungle” camp told the Guardian that at least five or six former scheme participants were waiting there to return, describing overcrowding that left people without room to sleep.

Another asylum seeker, who said he was 17, reported being caught by police while trying to board a lorry a few days earlier. He said he would continue trying to reach Britain despite the danger.