Detainees under scheme to return people entering UK on small boats told their plane tickets have been cancelled

The first flight of 2026 to return asylum seekers who came to the UK on small boats to France has been cancelled, the Guardian understands.

Detainees earmarked for the UK government’s “one in, one out” scheme who had tickets for a flight on Wednesday morning to Paris were told their tickets had been cancelled.

Groups are coming together across the country to help refugee families settle and integrate into local life

“Our children correct us when we don’t pronounce some words with the proper Derbyshire accent,” says Samir*, an Afghan refugee whose family have settled into their new lives in the north of England.

Initially, he says, it was difficult for the family to get used to rural life in Derbyshire, but after a while they had integrated into the local community so well that his children, who have adopted the Derbyshire accent, tease him about his.

Detainees being held under controversial scheme say Home Office has caused them ‘severe psychological harm’

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Eighty asylum seekers detained in preparation for being returned to France under the UK government’s controversial “one in, one out” scheme have called on UN bodies to investigate their treatment, claiming they have suffered “fear, humiliation and psychological distress” at the hands of the Home Office since arriving in the UK in small boats.

The detainees have compiled a document, “Report on conditions and treatment at Harmondsworth immigration removal centre”, which claims they have been treated unjustly by the Home Office since arriving in the UK on small boats. Harmondsworth is one of two detention centres close to Heathrow airport in London.