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 to stop small boats.
The man, who arrived in the UK on a small boat in August, was flown into Paris from Heathrow last Thursday morning.
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.
A family of three, including a small child, have become the first to arrive in UK through the new legal route.
A Home Office spokesperson said: “The UK-France deal is a historic agreement, and these are critical first steps.
“This is 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, subject to rigorous checks.
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 then 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.
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