Asylum seeker in UK as part of ‘one in, one out’ scheme says it is unfair on those deported

People travelling from France to the UK by small boat are deemed eligible for return there under the ‘one in, one out’ scheme. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images View image in fullscreen People travelling from France to the UK by small boat are deemed eligible for return there under the ‘one in, one out’ scheme. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images Asylum seeker in UK as part of ‘one in, one out’ scheme says it is unfair on those deported Man flown from France as part of legal entry programme decries effect on others ‘who may have a similar case’ An asylum seeker brought to the UK by the Home Office has said it feels unjust that he was allowed into the country only because someone else was deported. The individual benefited from the “one in” part of the controversial “one in, one out” scheme , where one asylum seeker who reached the UK on a small boat is forcibly returned to France in exchange for another being brought legally to Britain. In the first interview with an asylum seeker brought to the UK legally, the man said: “I am very happy to be here, but it’s not fair that another asylum seeker who may have a very similar case to mine but arrived in a small boat has been sent back to France so I can come here legally,” the asylum seeker, who the Guardian is not naming to protect his anonymity. “I don’t support sending some people back to France so that others like me can come to the UK.” More than 900 people have been allowed into the UK to apply for asylum under the scheme since it was announced last July, with a similar number who arrived here irregularly moved out. The charity Safe Passage , which supports asylum seeker families in France trying to come to the UK legally, condemned the policy as “not a genuine route to protection”. The asylum seeker acknowledged that his legal journey to the UK – by plane from Paris – was much safer and speedier than the crossings made by people risking their lives in small boats, but said he is in limbo here while he waits for his asylum claim to be determined. “We are waiting for our main asylum interview and have nothing to do while we wait,” he said. “I applied for a university scholarship, but was told I am not eligible because I am an asylum seeker. I am doing some volunteering, but by not allowing us to work or study and just waiting, the Home Office is teaching us to be lazy.” He added: “I am in a hotel with others brought to the UK legally, and I have only seen other single men like me.” The asylum seeker said that he applied for the “in” scheme online. “They took our biometrics and passports in Paris and then we were taken to a hotel and told to wait until 5pm to find out if temporary visas had been approved for us to travel to UK by plane,” he said. “Those who were approved were taken to the airport in Paris and flown to the UK.” He said that on arrival in Britain, he and the rest of the “in” group were taken to a Home Office building. “They took us from a parking basement into an elevator for th