Asylum seekers who arrived in small boats will be sent back to France as soon as Monday under a one-in one-out deal Keir Starmer struck with French President Emmanuel Macron
The Government is “straining at the bit” to get the small boat crisis under control as the first deportations of migrants to France are expected to begin this week.
Asylum seekers who arrived in small boats will be sent back to France as soon as Monday under a one-in one-out deal Keir Starmer struck with French President Emmanuel Macron in July.
The first migrants were detained on August 6 under the new scheme, which will see the UK send people back to France in exchange for those who apply and are approved to come to the UK.
More than 30,000 people have made the perilous Channel crossing to Britain so far this year.
It marks the earliest point in the year that figure has been hit since records began in 2018.
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It comes after tensions over the use of hotels to house asylum seekers flared over the summer.
Asked about what he knew about returns flights being due to start in the coming week, Peter Kyle told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Philips: “What we know about that is that we are straining at the bit to get a grip on the migration crisis that we inherited from the Conservatives, where their free entry into the UK experiment left us with a disastrous inheritance.
“So we’ve been straining at the bit, we’ve been doing everything we can.
“The lesson is that by cooperating with our partners, France, rather than rowing with them, we are able to deliver – so I hope the flights will start as quickly as possible.
“I don’t know the exact date they will, but people need to look at this and see that we are straining at the bit.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Under the new UK-France treaty, people crossing in small boats can now be detained and removed to France.
“We expect the first returns to take place imminently.
“Protecting the UK border is our top priority. We will do whatever it takes to restore order to secure our borders.”
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