Detentions expected 'within days' as UK-France migrant returns deal comes into force

ITV News

20 hours ago

The UK and France's "one in, one out" deal to return migrants who cross the Channel on small boats comes into force on Tuesday, with detentions expected to begin within days.
The deal, which has now been approved by the European Commission, means the UK will be able to send people crossing the Channel in small boats back to France in exchange for asylum seekers with ties to Britain.
It also means that anyone arriving in a small boat can be detained immediately, and space has been set aside at immigration removal centres, in the expectation that detentions will begin within days.
The ratification of the treaty comes after Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron agreed the "one in, one out" pilot scheme last month.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: 'This is the product of months of grown-up diplomacy, delivering real results for British people, as we broker deals no government has been able to achieve and strike at the heart of these vile gangs' business model.
'The days of gimmicks and broken promises are over – we will restore order to our borders with the seriousness and competence the British people deserve.'
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: "For the first time, under this groundbreaking new treaty, people who undertake illegal, dangerous journeys to the UK – putting lives at risk and fuelling organised crime – can be returned to France.
"In return, we will take people who apply legally with appropriate documentation to be transferred to the UK, subject to clear eligibility criteria and stringent security checks."
Cooper added: 'It is also right to make clear that – while the UK will always be ready to play its part alongside other countries in helping those fleeing persecution and conflict – this must be done in a controlled and managed legal way, not through dangerous, illegal, and uncontrolled routes."
Under the new agreement, adult migrants who cross the Channel on a small boat can be returned to France if their claim for asylum is considered inadmissible.
An equal number of migrants who pass security checks will also be eligible to come to the UK through a new, legal route if they have not attempted to cross the Channel before.
Anyone who arrives on a small boat and is returned to France will not be eligible to apply for the legal route to the UK, the Home Office said.
Migrants in France who want to come to the UK legally will be able to submit an Expression of Interest application online, but will need to "satisfactorily establish" their identity and nationality, as well as pass security and eligibility checks.
The returns treaty will remain in force until 2026, and will be continually reviewed by both the UK and France.
The government says returns to other countries and immigration work will continue alongside the treaty, adding that they have returned more than 35,000 people who do not have the right to be in the UK within the last year.
But opposition parties have criticised the deal amid reports that the pilot scheme will see only 50 people a week returned to France while this year has seen a weekly average of more than 800 people make the crossing.
The deal has also been criticised by refugee charities, which have urged the government to provide more safe, legal routes for asylum seekers instead.
Ministers have so far declined to say how many people could be returned under the deal, and insist that if the pilot is successful the figure will increase.
It comes as the Home Office announced £100 million of extra funding to support the returns agreement between the UK and France on Monday.
The cash will also pay for up to 300 more National Crime Agency (NCA) officers and new technology and equipment to step up intelligence-gathering on smuggling gangs.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp attacked the plans, saying they would return 'just 6% of illegal arrivals' and 'make no difference whatsoever'.
He added: 'The Rwanda removals deterrent, under which 100% of illegal arrivals would be removed, was ready to go last summer but Labour cancelled it just days before it was due to start with no proper replacement plan. As a result, this year so far has been the worst ever for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel.
'Only removing all illegal immigrants upon arrival will provide the necessary deterrent to stop the crossings. This is the Conservative plan, but Labour is too weak to implement it and as a result they have lost control of our borders.'
While the Conservatives' Rwanda plan was in theory uncapped, it was expected to take only around 1,000 asylum seekers in its first five years of operation thanks to limited capacity in the East African nation.
The plan, which Starmer had previously dismissed as a 'gimmick', was scrapped as one of the first acts of the incoming Labour Government last year.