Migrant who returned to UK after removal sent back to France

A migrant who returned to the UK by small boat less than a month after being removed to France under the "one-in, one out" scheme has been removed again.

Home Office sources said a returns flight on Wednesday morning included the man who was removed on 19 September, before he returned to the UK on 18 October.

The Iranian man claimed to have been a victim of modern slavery at the hands of smuggling gangs in France.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the man's case had been expedited after he was detected by biometrics and detained. She added: "Anyone looking to return to the UK after being removed under the UK-France agreement is wasting their time and money.

"My message is clear: if you try to return to the UK you will be sent back. I will do whatever it takes to scale up removals of illegal migrants and secure our borders."

The man, who has not been named, previously told the Guardian he returned to the UK because he feared for his life in France.

Speaking about his alleged treatment at the hands of smugglers, he said: "They took me like a worthless object, forced me to work, abused me, and threatened me with a gun and told me I would be killed if I made the slightest protest."

So far, 94 migrants have been removed from the UK as part of the treaty in which the UK agrees to take in asylum seekers who have a case for protection and have not attempted to cross the Channel illegally.

Under the scheme, 57 people have come to the UK from France.

More than 36,000 people have crossed the English Channel in small boats since the start of the year.

Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch previously said the case showed the government was "in total chaos", adding in an X post that it was "too weak to take the tough decisions to secure our borders".

Maddie Harris, director of Humans for Rights Network, previously told BBC News her organisation had been in contact with the Iranian man.

She said he was experiencing "acute fear" after his first removal from the UK due to his treatment by smugglers.

"While in France he experienced horrendous treatment at the hands of the people who are organising journeys to the UK," she said.