The Home Office has announced on Thursday morning that the first set of migrants who crossed the English Channel are being held at detention centres after landing at the UK’s shores.
The government will alert France within three days of them arriving in the UK and Paris will provide a response within two weeks.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “Yesterday, under the terms of this groundbreaking new treaty, the first group of people to cross the Channel were detained after their arrival at Western Jet Foil and will now be held in detention until they can be returned to France.
That sends a message to every migrant currently thinking of paying organised crime gangs to go to the UK that they will be risking their lives and throwing away their money if they get into a small boat.
No one should be making this illegal and dangerous journey that undermines our border security and lines the pockets of the criminal gangs.
She said: “We are on track to do what no other Government has done since this crisis first started – sending small boat arrivals back to France and strengthening our borders through the Plan for Change.
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said the move today is still not a deterrent as “94 per cent of illegal arrivals remain in the UK under this deal.
Philp said: “Keir Starmer’s promise last year to ‘smash the gangs’ has turned out to be nothing more than a gimmick that didn’t work, and this is just the same.
“They are detaining a token handful of arrivals, and in return, we accept unvetted migrants from France. The whole thing is riddled with loopholes, opt-outs and legal escape routes that will make removals near-impossible.
For those we accept in return, France will not share any personal data under the agreement. So even if the French Government knows the migrant has a criminal record or is an extremist or terrorist, they won’t tell us.
Yvette Cooper is busy declaring victory, but the facts speak for themselves – over 25,000 people have crossed the Channel illegally so far this year, making it the worst year on record, and more than 46,000 since Labour took office.
