Migrants Charities Call for Clarity on Return Deal with France

Keir Starmer's migrant return deal was under scrutiny yesterday after charities called for more clarity on how people would be selected for deportation and the European Union said it was still assessing the agreement.

- Rowena Mason Diane Taylor Lisa O'Carroll

No 10 said it was confident in the legality of the deal to return about 50 migrants a week to France in return for accepting the same number through a safe and legal route.

However, the agreement has been met with a mixed reception by those supporting refugees in Calais. The medical charity Médecins Sans Frontières said it was a shameful and dangerous pact that was reducing men, women and children to "exchangeable tokens," while Care4Calais questioned whether "racial profiling" would be used to choose when people were deported back to France.

Natacha Bouchart, the mayor of Calais, was also unhappy, saying she believed it would bring more migrants to France in the hope of crossing to the UK by small boat or claiming asylum legally.

Others were more positive, including the Refugee Council charity, which urged the government to ensure the scheme was "implemented in a way that treats all those seeking asylum fairly and with respect and dignity," and the UN refugee agency, which said it "could help achieve a more managed and shared approach, offering alternatives to dangerous journeys, while upholding access to asylum."