By Layli Foroudi
PARIS, Feb 9 (Reuters) – Migrants deported from Britain to France under a new “one-in one-out” scheme did not have enough access to translators, legal advice or information about what would happen to them next, inspectors said in a report published on Monday.
Twenty people removed on a flight in November were offered a translator who spoke Arabic and French, but hardly any of them knew those languages, the UK prison inspectorate said in its first report on the scheme that was launched in July.
The deportees knew they were being taken to France but did not know what would happen to them there, “which increased anxiety for some,” it said.
They were given law firms’ phone numbers, but many said the solicitors did not want to take their cases, it added.
Under the agreement, a person who comes to Britain on a small boat can be detained and returned to France, and an equal number of migrants are then authorised to travel from France to Britain via a new legal route.
The stated aim is to persuade migrants not to risk the dangerous and illegal crossing from France.
In response to the report, a spokesperson for Britain’s Home Office (interior ministry), said: “The welfare of people detained is of the utmost importance and we are committed to ensuring that detention and removal are carried out with dignity.
Detainees are offered information leaflets in 26 languages, they added.
Rights groups have said the “one-in one-out” scheme is arbitrary, lacks due process and disregards migrants’ wellbeing.
A group of UN experts, including seven Special Rapporteurs, called for the end of the programme last year in a letter to the British and French governments, saying it “may result in serious violations of international human rights law”.
The French Ministry of the Interior did not immediately reply to requests for comment.
British interior minister Shabana Mahmood said last week that 305 people have been removed from the UK and 367 brought in under the scheme.
(Reporting by Layli Foroudi; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
