Another week, another migration gimmick. Under a ”one in, one out” deal, the UK is set to forcibly return a small number of asylum seekers back to France in exchange for admitting the same number of people wanting to come to Britain.

The deal aims to deter deadly journeys across the English Channel, disrupt smuggling networks, and provide legal pathways to reunite families. To do so, France gets not only greater control at the border, but also additional funding beyond the €760 million already contributed by London to tackle irregular migration.

”People crossing to the UK have gone through terror, war, and the most testing life circumstances,” Steve Smith, CEO at NGO Care4Calais, told The European Correspondent. ”The tiny percentage chance of being sent back to France won't work as a deterrent.”

Southern European countries also aren't happy about the deal. Under EU rules – known as the ”Dublin regulation” – people seeking asylum should process their claims in the first country they enter, meaning France could then send those returned by Britain to the likes of Italy, Spain, and Greece.

For its part, the EU is currently checking out the legality of the deal. Last year, Italy accepted more than 35,000 returned asylum seekers from other EU countries – mostly Germany and France. Spain received nearly 10,000, while Greece refused almost all return requests.