The United Kingdom and France have agreed to implement a pilot 'one in, one out' migrant return scheme, allowing the UK to return migrants arriving via small boats to France in exchange for accepting asylum seekers with legitimate claims from France.

The initiative, announced during French President Emmanuel Macron's state visit to London, is designed to disrupt human smuggling networks and reduce illegal crossings, which have surged to over 21,000 this year.

The agreement also includes enhanced French maritime enforcement measures to prevent departures.