Paris is reportedly seeking to scrap the migrant exchange deal with London, pushing for an EU-wide scheme instead<\/p>\n
Hundreds of illegal migrants, including more than 40 \u201cage-disputed\u201d children, who were returned from the UK to France under the \u201cone in, one out\u201d deal have disappeared, the Guardian has reported, citing human rights organizations.
\nThe migrant exchange scheme was brokered by Paris and London last summer and hailed as a \u201cgroundbreaking\u201d achievement at the time. Under the deal, the UK is able to return illegal migrants who cross the Channel to France while accepting asylum seekers with legitimate claims who had not previously attempted to enter Britain illegally.
\nThe scheme has proven to have a very limited impact, with around 1,400 migrants returned since it was signed in September last year, compared with around 32,000 illegal arrivals. Moreover, hundreds of migrants sent back to France under the scheme have disappeared altogether, the Guardian reported, citing figures provided by NGO representatives working on the ground.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
UK spent \u2018tens of thousands\u2019 deporting one migrant \u2013 Telegraph<\/p>\n
Among them were at least 41 \u201cage-disputed\u201d people \u2013 individuals claiming to be unaccompanied minors \u2013 according to Maddie Harris, director of the Humans for Rights Network. Holding unaccompanied minors in adult immigration detention centers is illegal, and such migrants are excluded from the \u201cone in, one out\u201d deal.
\nThe Home Office has strongly denied the allegations, insisting that all those returned were adults. \u201cThis is categorically untrue. Nobody has been returned to France, where their age is in dispute,\u201d it told the newspaper.
\nThe fate of the deal itself remains unclear, with the agreement set to expire in October and neither side explicitly confirming or denying whether it will be extended. According to British media reports, Paris now wants to scrap the existing arrangement and replace the bilateral scheme with an EU-wide deal with the UK.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Anti-immigrant protesters clash with UK police over new boat arrivals (VIDEOS)<\/p>\n
French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez has reportedly already conveyed this intention to his British counterpart, Shabana Mahmood, and told her that Paris would not prolong the existing scheme. Under the French proposal, London would be obliged to receive migrants from all 27 EU member states in exchange for those returned to the bloc.
\n\u201cFor our part, we want to move away from this bilateral relationship with the UK. We consider that France should not have to carry it alone and that it would be better to integrate it into an agreement between the EU and UK,\u201d Nunez reportedly told a French parliamentary inquiry.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris is reportedly seeking to scrap the migrant exchange deal with London, pushing for an EU-wide scheme instead Hundreds of illegal migrants, including more than 40 \u201cage-disputed\u201d children, who were…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t