Two members of a Home Office team tasked with escorting migrants back to France under the Government’s “one in, one out” scheme fell asleep on the job, a report has found.
An inspection report found the pair dozed off while a group of men were being transported to Paris from two immigration removal centres in Britain in November.
There were 20 men being returned to mainland Europe on a flight from London Stansted Airport, accompanied by 58 escorts and two paramedics, said the report from Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor.
The official review said two escort staff who had been allocated to one detainee were “asleep at the same time” and described it as “unprofessional behaviour”.
The “one in, one out” scheme came into force in August to send small boat migrants crossing the Channel back to France and bring asylum seekers to the UK under the reciprocal terms of the deal.
Giving evidence to MPs last week, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood admitted the programme has “obviously not dented the numbers yet”.
So far, 367 migrants have been brought into the UK under the reciprocal terms of the treaty, yet only 305 have been removed, she said.
Downing Street has insisted the number of those coming in and out “will fluctuate”.
January saw the fewest number of small boat Channel crossings in the month since 2021, with a total of 933 migrants arriving on UK shores, which is the lowest number since January 2021, when 224 migrants made the journey.
The low figure was attributed to the harsh Storm Chandra, as opposed to the anti-immigration policy taking effect.
“The treatment of detainees during the coach transfers and flight was mostly good, with most escort staff polite, friendly and respectful, however we observed some unprofessional behaviour,” the report continued.
“This included prolonged conversations between escort staff over the heads of detainees, swearing in front of detainees, and both escort staff allocated to a detainee being asleep at the same time.”
The detainees had been transferred from Home Office immigration removal centres Brook House, near London Gatwick Airport, and Harmondsworth, near London Heathrow Airport.
The report said force was used on one detainee at Brook House “because he had said he would not comply with the removal”.
On collection, this detainee protested and refused to walk to the search area, so staff used guiding holds, and later a waist restraint belt was also used and removed when “safe to do so”.
The report also revealed Home Office records of three previous removal operations showed force had been used on eight occasions.
It also highlighted issues including migrants being left without access to water for about three hours on a coach, two men being transported wearing flip-flops, and not enough use of interpreters.
A total of 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK in 2025 after crossing the English Channel – the second highest annual figure on record.
Up to Saturday, there have been 989 arrivals so far this year.
