‘One in, one out’ asylum seekers say scheme has caused them severe psychological harm

Migrants detained under Sir Keir Starmer’s flagship “one in, one out” returns scheme with France have said that they have been left without support, prompting a “severe mental health crisis” at the UK’s largest removal centre.

Detainees at Harmondsworth immigration removal centre, near Heathrow airport, have written a letter calling on UN bodies, inspectors and human rights organisations to investigate their detainment, which they say “feels punitive, humiliating, and designed to break us psychologically”.

Around 80 asylum seekers at the site have backed the document, which claims that they have been treated unjustly by the Home Office since their arrival in the UK. The migrants, from Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran and other countries, said that “people are breaking down” and are in mental distress, “isolated or punished instead of receiving care”.

The letter, which was first reported by The Guardian, explains that the men have been detained at Harmondsworth immigration centre alongside people with criminal convictions. It continues: “We are not criminals. Our only action was seeking asylum”.

The letter claims that all of the detainees have received refusal decisions on their asylum claims, and they have no access to lawyers.

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As of December 2025, 193 people had been returned to France under the one in, one out scheme. The arrangement sees people who have arrived in the UK on small boats returned to Paris in exchange for different asylum seekers from France.

Some 195 people have been brought to the UK from France legally under the scheme, according to government data.

The scheme has come under criticism after migrants who were deported to France under the deal returned to the UK via small boat.

According to the detainees, asylum seekers who arrived in the UK via a Channel crossing were interviewed when they were “vulnerable and unwell” and when people were “exhausted, frightened and traumatised”.

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They also say that their mobile phones were taken and they were given basic phones as replacements, which made contact with family members difficult, if not impossible.

The report says: “We are cut off from social media, news, and the outside world. Families do not know where we are or how we are treated. Letters are delayed. Visits are denied. This isolation is destroying us emotionally.”

Speaking about the migrant’s health concerns, the letter says: “Those in mental distress are isolated or punished instead of receiving care. Fear and despair are constant. We wake up every day asking: ‘What is our crime?’”

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A total of 41,472 migrants crossed the Channel in small boats in 2025, a 13 per cent rise on 2024. However, this was not as high as the 2022 peak when nearly 46,000 people made the perilous journey.

The Harmondsworth protest comes after the government announced that new powers will enable immigration officers to seize mobile phones and sim cards from migrants.

Officers will begin taking devices from people at Manston processing centre in Kent, to download data they believe will help them gather intelligence on people smugglers.

Officers will need to be acting on specific intelligence when they decide to confiscate a mobile phone, the Home Office has said.

The new powers for law enforcement agencies are designed to speed up investigations and come after Labour’s new Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act became law in December.

A Home Office spokesperson said: “We do not recognise the claims relating to conditions at Harmondsworth. We regard the welfare of people detained in our care as being of utmost importance.

“Protecting the UK border is our top priority. Our landmark one in, one out scheme means we can now send those who arrive on small boats straight back to France – striking at the heart of the criminal gangs’ business model.”