Thirty asylum seekers in detention in the UK have gone on hunger strike in protest against their imminent removal to France under the Home Office’s controversial “one in, one out” scheme.

The Guardian understands the group began their hunger strike on Monday and many are due to be forcibly removed to France on Thursday.

More than 100 people have been forcibly removed from the UK to France under the Home Office scheme, with a smaller number brought to Britain via legal means in return. The aim of the scheme is to deter asylum seekers from crossing the Channel in small boats.

Two of those already removed to France have since returned to the UK on small boats: an Iranian man who was then forcibly returned to France for a second time; and an Eritrean man, who is in a detention centre and

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