Inspection finds UK-France ‘one-in, one-out’ small-boats returns pilot workable but poorly defined

The Independent Chief Inspector of Borders and Immigration (ICIBI) has released the first in-depth assessment of “Operation Hillmore”, the bilateral pilot launched in March 2026 that allows the UK to return selected asylum-seekers who crossed the Channel back to France while admitting an equivalent number judged to have strong protection claims. According to the 40-page report, more than 1,000 people were sent back to France and a similar number authorised to enter the UK before the pilot ended on 1 October 2026. Inspectors praised the scheme’s operational set-up—joint leadership, ring-fenced funding and secure detention capacity—but concluded that success indicators were never clearly defined, making it impossible to judge whether the project deterred crossings or merely proved that a returns mechanism can be made to work. The inspection also highlights persistent frictions on the French side: refusal rates for UK referrals exceeded 50 % in some cohorts, and French authorities supplied little feedback on the grounds for rejection, hampering process improvement. Welfare safeguards were generally respected, but NGOs told inspectors that rapid removals limited migrants’ access to legal advice and the opportunity to flag trafficking or torture claims. Financial transparency is another weak spot. The Home Office could not show a value-for-money analysis, and the pilot’s heavy use of detention space “crowded out” other enforcement work. The ICIBI recommends a lessons-learned exercise, measurable success criteria, and an options appraisal before any relaunch. The UK government has accepted all three recommendations. French officials have not yet commented publicly, but Paris is reviewing how the findings fit its broader Channel migration strategy. For mobility managers the report is a reminder that policies on either side of the Channel may shift quickly. Companies moving staff between the UK and France should monitor potential changes to admissibility criteria and plan for possible increases in spot checks at northern French ports and airports if a permanent scheme is introduced. Employers sponsoring assignees should also be ready to prove the legality of any cross-border moves if challenged by either authority.