The UK has cancelled its first scheduled flight of 2026 that would return asylum seekers who arrived by small boats to France. The Home Office's "one in, one out" scheme had planned a charter flight on Wednesday morning to Paris, but detainees found out their tickets were cancelled just before departure. One man waiting to fly said, "I came on a boat with 80 people onboard. Ten of us were detained and 70 were taken to hotels because their asylum claims will be processed here. That’s not fair. I was delighted when our tickets were cancelled but the guards would not tell us the reason. When I asked a guard he said: ‘We can’t tell you why.’" This is believed to be the first time a Home Office deportation charter flight to Paris was cancelled, and it is not connected to any legal challenge. The cancellation came after a report surfaced on Monday written by 80 detained men in Harmondsworth immigration removal centre near Heathrow. This report said most asylum seekers arriving by small boats have their claims processed in the UK, but a few are detained and ordered to be removed to France. The detainees called their detention "arbitrary and discriminatory," stating, "We are not criminals. We are people who fled war, persecution, and injustice. We came to the UK believing in human rights, freedom, and protection. Instead, we are detained, isolated, and silenced." If a scheduled deportation flight is cancelled shortly before take-off, the Home Office may have to pay tens of thousands of pounds in compensation to the plane leasing company. Details of the contract for UK-France flights are not clear. However, sources say a typical deportation charter costs around £250,000. Data from 2022 showed the average cost of such flights was £180,000, depending on plane type and destination. The Home Office said, "It’s a longstanding government policy to not comment on operational matters."