More than 21,000 migrants have crossed the Channel to Britain in seven months, while fewer than 500 have been sent back under a flagship returns deal with France.
The stark imbalance has piled pressure on Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood to rethink the “one-in, one-out” scheme, which was designed to deter small boat crossings by returning arrivals to France in exchange for accepting a limited number via legal routes.
