First Migrant Deportation Mission in Britain Fails as Charter Flight Is Canceled

First Migrant Deportation Mission in Britain Fails as Charter Flight Is Canceled
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The first planned flight to return asylum seekers to France in 2026 was canceled at the last minute, with detainees describing the government’s action as “discriminatory and unjust.”

The incident has created a new challenge for the controversial “one in, one out” policy.

A charter flight scheduled to transfer asylum seekers who had arrived in Britain on small boats was canceled on Wednesday morning shortly before its planned departure to Paris.

According to The Guardian, detainees learned at the last moment that their tickets had been voided. Of the 80 people selected for removal, only 10 were ultimately taken to the airport, while the remaining individuals were transferred to hotels and had their cases reviewed.

A report compiled on Monday by 80 detainees at the Harmondsworth detention center near London’s Heathrow Airport said the detentions were “arbitrary and discriminatory,” stressing that the asylum seekers were not criminals but people who had fled war and persecution and believed in human rights.

In a joint statement, the detainees protested the government’s selective removal system, saying that justice and human dignity had been violated in the process.

Beyond its humanitarian implications, the flight’s cancellation is expected to impose significant financial costs on the British government.

Home Office sources said each charter deportation flight costs about £250,000, and canceling a flight at the last minute could force the government to pay tens of thousands of pounds in compensation to aircraft leasing companies.

A Home Office spokesperson declined to explain the reasons for the cancellation, citing the government’s longstanding policy of not commenting on operational matters.