The UK has sent back 281 migrants to France so far under its one in, one out agreement with the country, the home secretary has said.

Shabana Mahmood told LBC 350 people had come to the UK from France through the pilot scheme’s approved route.

Defending the deal, she acknowledged the number of removals was “relatively small” but said there were “practical issues” about how quickly people could be detained.

Ministers hope the scheme will deter people from attempting to enter the UK illegally on small boats via the English Channel by threatening removal to France.

A total of 41,472 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats in 2025 – almost 5,000 more than the previous year.

It was the highest number since 2022, when nearly 46,000 migrants crossed.

Under the deal with France, for each migrant the UK returns to France, another migrant with a strong case for asylum in the UK will come in return.

The UK can immediately detain anyone who crosses the Channel and, within about two weeks, agree with the French authorities to return the individual.

The numbers have fluctuated since the scheme started last September, with France taking 26 back and the UK accepting 18 in return by October 2025.

The numbers of migrants coming in both directions had been small at first.

They appear to have increased in recent months, but remain modest relative to the number of Channel crossings.

Speaking to LBC, Mahmood said: “There are very normal discrepancies in these numbers.

“They are still relatively small numbers. But the thing I would say is, this was a pilot. It was designed to try to prove that this new model of working with the French could work.

“And there are practical issues around how quickly you can detain people and then get them on a plane and move them out to France.”

She added that numbers are “already growing” and that an initial problem encountered under the scheme was that they could not find enough people to come to the UK because of a lack of awareness of it.

“You’ve got to compete with organised immigration crime to get your messages out. We’ve managed to put some of those issues right,” she said.

Downing Street also defended the figures.

“We’ve always been clear, the numbers will fluctuate,” the prime minister’s spokesman said.

“I think at the beginning of the agreement the numbers were higher in terms of us sending people to France than receiving people under the safe returns route. But those numbers will fluctuate.”