LONDON (AP) — A pilot program between the U.K. and France that aimed to curb the number of migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats has been scrapped, Britain's government said Wednesday.
In a statement, the Home Office said the so-called “one in, one out” deal is “no longer processing new cases."
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A group of migrants try to cross the channel from France to Britain on a dinghy boat, in Hardelot, northern France, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
A group of migrants try to cross the channel from France to Britain on a dinghy boat, in Hardelot, northern France, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
FILE - A group of migrants try to cross the channel from France to Britain on a dinghy boat, in Hardelot, northern France, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)
FILE - A group of migrants try to cross the channel from France to Britain on a dinghy boat, in Hardelot, northern France, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)
Under the plan, people who arrived in the U.K. after making the dangerous crossing across the Channel could be detained and returned to France in exchange for an equivalent number of asylum seekers who applied through a safe and legal route.
As part of the deal, some 1,500 individuals have returned to France while a tad fewer have been transferred to the U.K. The deal was intended to last three years though there was a clause allowing the parties to end it earlier.
“We continue to work with France to relentlessly tackle small boat crossings, and we’ve made real progress," the Home Office said in a statement.
Though the scheme is no longer active, the Home Office said deportation flights will continue in the coming weeks for those who have already been detained.
The backdrop currently is very different to last year. The number of people making the crossing has fallen sharply this year to a five-year low for a variety of reasons, including increased police patrols and enhanced surveillance in northern France. So far this year, around 19,000 people have made the crossing, down about 40% on the same time last year.
The danger of crossings was illustrated Monday when a 10-year-old child and two women died, apparently trampled to death on a boat packed with more than 100 people.
Cooperation on stopping the boats stalled after the U.K.’s acrimonious split from the European Union in 2020, but in the past few years the U.K. and France have struck several agreements to get a handle on the issue.
Small boat crossings have become a potent political issue in the U.K. in recent years. Anger at the seeming inability of successive governments to get a handle on the issue has been behind a series of demonstrations and riots and has fueled the rise of the hard-right Reform UK party.
A group of migrants try to cross the channel from France to Britain on a dinghy boat, in Hardelot, northern France, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
A group of migrants try to cross the channel from France to Britain on a dinghy boat, in Hardelot, northern France, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias)
FILE - A group of migrants try to cross the channel from France to Britain on a dinghy boat, in Hardelot, northern France, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)
FILE - A group of migrants try to cross the channel from France to Britain on a dinghy boat, in Hardelot, northern France, Wednesday, Sept. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jean-Francois Badias, File)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A commercial plane traveling from Dubai in the United Arab Emirates to Israel was forced to make an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, briefly raising concerns about a possible hijacking and prompting Israel to scramble warplanes.
Israeli media, citing security officials, said the incident stemmed from a feud between the plane’s two pilots, and everyone on board was safe. The plane landed in Tabuk, a civilian and military base in the kingdom.
The FlyDubai plane had transmitted an emergency alert, according to publicly available flight tracking information.
Around two and a half hours after departing from Dubai, it abruptly descended from 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet within a minute, before making an erratic circle close to the Jordanian border and eventually landing in Tabuk about an hour later, according to FlightRadar24.
A regional official briefed on the incident said a fight broke out in the cockpit and apparently involved pilots. It wasn’t immediately clear what had caused the fight, the official said.
A second official confirmed that Israel had scrambled warplanes, fearing a hijacking of a plane carrying dozens of its citizens. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned in recent days of unspecified, escalated security threats.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the incident was still under investigation.
Netanyahu’s office later said the situation was under control and Israel was working to bring the passengers home.
Emergency landings for personnel reasons are rare yet not unheard of. In 2022, two Air France pilots were suspended after fighting in the cockpit on a Geneva-Paris flight, though it did not have to be diverted and landed as planned.
Passengers told Israel’s Ch 12 by phone that they heard shouts from those sitting more forward on the plane who heard the altercation between the pilots, and the plane dipped steeply before landing in Saudi Arabia.
They also said that all the passengers are staying on the plane and that there is a heavy presence of Saudi security forces surrounding them.
FlyDubai later confirmed that flight FZ 1073 en route to Ben Gurion experienced an incident and landed safely in Tabuk on Wednesday.
“Our teams are working closely with the relevant authorities,” the carrier said. “Further updates will be issued as additional confirmed details become available.”
Flight-tracking data indicated that the plane was a Boeing 737 Max 8.
FlyDubai is the lower-cost sister carrier of Emirates airlines. The UAE has become a popular vacation destination for Israeli tourists since the countries normalized ties in 2020.
The low-cost carrier’s fleet relies entirely on variants of the 737, a twin-engine, single-aisle aircraft that is widely used by airlines around the world. It has nearly 100 of the planes, including 69 of the Max 8 variant.
Dubai International Airport, where the plane took off from, is by far the Middle East’s busiest airport and the world’s largest in terms of international travel. It handled a record 95.2 million passengers last year.
Israelis were targeted in a string of hijackings and airplane attacks by Palestinian militants in the 1960s and 1970s. Israel has not experienced a hijacking in decades but maintains some of the strictest airport security in the world, including often invasive check-in procedures for Israel-bound flights.
Commercial flights have flown between Israel and the United Arab Emirates since the countries normalized ties in 2020.
Magdy reported from Cairo and Metz from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Adam Schreck in Bangkok contributed to this report.
An FlyDubai plane carrying Israeli passengers who had earlier been aboard another FlyDubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia approaches Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Passengers who experienced an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, during a flight on FlyDubai plane, arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli passenger Haim Lazarovich, who experienced an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, during a flight on FlyDubai plane, arrives at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Passengers who experienced an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia, during a flight on FlyDubai plane, arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An FlyDubai plane carrying Israeli passengers who had earlier been aboard another FlyDubai aircraft that made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia approaches Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Passengers embark on a FlyDubai aircraft at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Passengers check in their luggage with FlyDubai at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Holding balloons people wait for the arrival of passengers at Ben Gurion International Airport, near Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
A FlyDubai aircraft takes off from Dubai International Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo)
A plane takes off as a flydubai aircraft sits on the tarmac at Dubai International Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2026. (AP Photo)
FILE - Israeli tourists leave a FlyDubai plane which departed from Ben-Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv and landed in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Nov. 8, 2020.(AP Photo/Malak Harb, File)
