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A family of three have become the first asylum seekers to arrive in UK as part of the government’s new ‘one in, one out’ deal with France.
It comes less than a week after the first migrant was deported to France under Sir Keir Starmer’s flagship deal designed to stop small boats.
In total four migrants have been removed from the UK to France, in what ministers claim is a major step in the fight against criminal networks profiting from the deadly Channel crossings.
Now a family, which includes a small child, have become the first to arrive in UK through the new legal route.
Migrants on a small boat in the Channel (AFP via Getty Images)
A Home Office spokesperson said the move was a “clear message to people-smuggling gangs that illegal entry into the UK will not be tolerated.
“We will continue to detain and remove those who arrive by small boat. And we will work with France to operate a legal route for an equal number of eligible migrants to come to the UK subject to security checks.”
The UK-France treaty, which came into force at the start of August, allows the UK to detain and remove those who enter the country via a small boat, blocking their access to the UK asylum system.
In return, the UK is accepting an equal number of migrants through the new legal route.
The move comes just days after Donald Trump told the prime minister to “call out the military” to stop small boats, as the number of crossings hit a record high, and warned that illegal migration can “destroy” countries.
Labour minister Peter Kyle later said that the Royal Navy could be called upon to tackle the crossings “if needed”.
But former first sea lord Admiral Lord West said that Mr Trump’s suggestion would make “no difference at all”, because the UK cannot easily return boats to France.
A pilot scheme, the one-in, one-out deal will see a small number of migrants – initially it is understood planned to be 50 per week – who have crossed the Channel in small boats sent immediately back to France.
The Home Office has refused to confirm numbers but said it expects the number to grow as the scheme progresses.
In return, Britain will take in the same number of migrants from France, selecting those with family in the UK or strong ties to the country.
Initially, the scheme will only apply to adults because children who come to the UK illegally are not detained.
The images of migrants arriving by their thousands via small boats has proved politically toxic, and the PM has said he is determined to succeed where his predecessors failed in getting the issue under control.
Many of those who arrive are then housed in hotels while their asylum claims are processed, which costs the taxpayer billions.
Ministers hope by demonstrating to those considering the dangerous crossing that they may be immediately sent back to France, fewer will be willing to risk making the perilous journey.
However, critics have attacked the agreement saying it will deal with only a small number of migrants, meaning only around one in 20 who arrive in the UK will be sent back to France.
This is a breaking news story, more follows…