France is not a safe country. That was the excuse given by an Iranian man who returned to Britain last weekend a month after his deportation. The man was one of the first illegal immigrants to have been sent back to France as part of the ‘one in, one out’ deal agreed between the two countries this summer.

The Iranian was detained on 6 August and deported on a scheduled flight on 19 September. He crossed the Channel last Saturday along with 368 other migrants, a handful of the 36,816 who have made the voyage this year, which is more than the figure for the whole of 2024.

Border officials identified the Iranian as a returnee using biometric checks, but he told them he had fled France a second time because he feels unsafe, describing himself as a slave of the people smuggling gangs. He is b

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