‘I don’t have a life’: man sent to France in ‘one in, one out’ refugee scheme tells of return to UK

Key Takeaways

• An asylum seeker sent from the UK back to France under the “one in, one out” scheme has covertly returned to Britain and is now in hiding, the Guardian has learned.
• In the first interview with a one in, one out returnee living under the radar in the UK, the man told the Guardian his situation was “desperate”.
• He said he was aware of at least 18 other one in, one out asylum seekers who had returned in the same way as him and were now also in the UK covertly.
• Other one in, one out returnees the Guardian has spoken to in mainland Europe said they were also aware of people returning to Britain in a clandestine way.
• The man, who returned to the UK in a lorry, told the Guardian: “After I was sent back to France by the Home Office, the smugglers caught me and wanted to force me to work with them.