10/10/2025 – 30/10/2025

• The UK government has announced sanctions for gangs based in the Balkans which are involved in forging documents utilised in human trafficking and others involved in the financing of irregular migration, Reuters reported on 22 October 2025. The announcement comes as British, EU and Western Balkan officials met in London for a summit on 22 October to discuss issues surrounding migration, security and economic growth.  

• As reported by InfoMigrants on 21 October 2025, the UK Home Office has flown 16 migrants back to France on a single flight, bringing the number of returns under its “one in, one out” deal with France to a total of 42. The deal has recently been criticised by the French government body, the National Consultative Commission on Human Rights (CNCDH), as ‘cynical and dehumanising’, creating a system where “the legal crossing of one migrant from France to England is contingent on the expulsion of another who attempted the dangerous Channel crossing with the assistance of smugglers”.