Fifteen French and UK human rights organisations are calling for the suspension of the controversial “one in, one out” treaty in a legal challenge that has been launched in France.
The deal, signed by the UK and France in July, involves one asylum seeker who arrives in the UK from France in a small boat being sent back there in exchange for another selected in France to come to the UK.
Those supporting the challenge include Utopia 56, Auberge des Migrants, Secours Catholique and Doctors of the World.
Lionel Crusoé, the French lawyer bringing the challenge, said: “We have filed an appeal with the Council of State against the decree publishing the Franco-British agreement. We challenge the readmission measures provided for in this agreement.
“These measures do not provide sufficient guarantees to take into account the specific situation of exiles. Furthermore, the ‘one-to-one’ approach seems highly questionable and does not sufficiently respect the principle of human dignity.”
He added that part of the case is that the conditions breach the French constitution, saying that before the treaty came into force, a bill ratifying it should have been submitted to the French parliament. “However, parliament was unable to examine this treaty.”
The challenge comes as 25 asylum seekers returned to France under the terms of the treaty have drafted a joint statement about their situation in France, shared with the Guardian. They say they need to “urgently bring attention to the extremely difficult and unsafe conditions we are currently living in”.
Twenty-six asylum seekers have so far been sent back to France. They have fled a range of conflict zones including Eritrea and Iran. One has left France soon after arriving there and his whereabouts are not known.
Many are in their teens or early 20s. They say they have been fingerprinted in France in preparation for being forcibly removed to other EU countries under what is known as the Dublin convention.
This allows one EU country to send asylum seekers back to another they previously passed through and were fingerprinted in. After Brexit, the UK no longer had access to this mechanism but, thanks to the new treaty, Downing Street now has indirect access.
Documents seen by the Guardian given to some asylum seekers by French authorities state: “Summons for the implementation of the Dublin procedure.”
The joint statement from the asylum seekers returned to France states:
“We are writing to urgently bring attention to the extremely difficult and unsafe conditions we are currently living in. The UK government has sent us away, and the country we were returned to has not provided us with any rights, support, or protection.”
They add that they have been given inadequate and unsafe housing, a lack of access to proper healthcare – including for survivors of torture – insufficient food and separation from families in the UK.
“We urgently request your help to ensure our rights are respected and that justice is restored. We ask you to imagine if you were a parent with children – how would you feel if your children were left alone somewhere with no one to care for them? Whatever care and protection you would give them, we ask you to extend the same to us. This is a humble plea based on humanity, and we hope our voices are heard so that support and protection can reach us immediately.”
One asylum seeker who was returned to France told the Guardian: “I don’t even have one euro. I can’t stay here because I was badly attacked by the smugglers. They are so dangerous. They all have guns in their hands. I saw how they beat asylum seekers.”
“I am worried we are going to be sent back to the very countries we fled from,” said a second asylum seeker.
“The agreement between the UK and France will go down as a dark chapter in history because it has abandoned us completely. The UK government is making an example of us and this is very painful and shameful.”
A Home Office spokesperson said:“Those arriving in the UK on small boats illegally will now be detained and returned thanks to the deal. We make no apologies for cracking down on illegal migration and securing our borders, and we are ramping up the pilot.
“We continue to work closely with our French counterparts to ensure the pilot operates effectively.”
Home Office sources added that those returned to France were processed according to French immigration procedures and that the legal basis for the ‘one in one out’ deal had been agreed with France and the European Commission to ensure compliance with domestic, European and international law.
The French interior ministry has been approached for comment.
