Migrants who crossed the English Channel have been detained for deportation to France under the new “one in one out” deal.
The Home Office said detentions began at Wednesday lunchtime, and those people will be held in immigration removal centres pending their return in the coming weeks.
It comes after pictures showed people on small boats headed for the UK yesterday, the day the pilot scheme came into force.
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The government hasn’t revealed how many of these arrivals were rounded up.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the public would receive regular updates on the scheme but she won’t provide operational information “that criminal gangs can simply use and exploit”.
She added: “No one should be in any doubt. Anyone who arrives from now on is eligible for immediate detention and return, and this pilot will now build because we are determined that no one should be making this journey.”
The scheme, which was agreed last month and came into force yesterday, allows adults arriving on a small boat to be sent back to France.
In exchange, the UK will allow an approved asylum seeker in France to be brought here via a safe and legal route.
The application process for those in France hoping to apply to come to the UK has now also been launched by the Home Office this morning.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer wrote on the X social media platform: “We have detained the first illegal migrants under our new deal before returning them to France.
“No gimmicks, just results. If you break the law to enter this country, you will face being sent back.
“When I say I will stop at nothing to secure our borders, I mean it.”
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