“One in, one out: thousands of lives at risk” - MSF documents the consequences of migration policies at the France-UK border
London, May 19 – Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which has been active along the coast of northern France for several years, has witnessed firsthand the harmful impact of migration policies on the physical and mental health of migrants. One of the most recent agreements, commonly known as “one in, one out,” endangers the lives of thousands of refugees at the France-UK border. Through first-hand testimonies, this film documents the inconsistencies of this agreement and its consequences.
The documentary “One in, one out: thousands of lives at risk,” filmed in March 2026 in Calais, gives a voice to people in transit in northern France who are risking their lives to reach the United Kingdom. Some have fled the war in Sudan; others have left their countries to escape persecution, famine, or simply in the hope of finding a better life. What they all have in common is the determination to reach the United Kingdom to seek refuge there, and the fact that their only option is to attempt to cross the English Channel in makeshift boats.
A cynical bargaining over human lives
In July 2025, the United Kingdom and France signed a new migration agreement, commonly known as “one in, one out”: asylum seekers crossing the English Channel in makeshift boats are arrested, detained, and in some cases, returned to France. In exchange, the United Kingdom promises a legal pathway to entry into its territory.
But its criteria are so restrictive that it remains inaccessible to the vast majority. Unaccompanied minors and stateless persons are excluded from this agreement.
This agreement has been condemned by numerous organisations, including MSF, which view it as a cynical bargaining over human lives.
Crossings of the Channel have never stopped
Between the agreement taking effect on August 6 2025, and the end of April 2026, more than 22,452 people* reached the British coast in makeshift boats. All of these men, women and children had no choice but to risk their lives to reach the United Kingdom.
Crossings of the Channel have never stopped, nor have shipwrecks. In 2025, at least 29 people died at sea along the France-UK border.**
MSF calls on governments to establish safe and accessible pathways
For decades, the United Kingdom has been paying hundreds of millions of pounds to France to prevent people seeking asylum, refugees and migrants from crossing the English Channel, using increasingly violent methods. Yet this subcontracting of the border has had no deterrent effect.
MSF calls on the British and French governments to urgently establish safe and accessible routes for people seeking refuge.
* according to data from the British Home Office
** according to a count by Agence France-Presse (AFP)