Detentions began for those who arrived on a small boat on Wednesday – with those being held expected to be sent back within a fortnight
The first small boat arrivals have been detained for removal to France under a “groundbreaking” new returns agreement.
Detentions began for migrants who arrived in Kent on Wednesday – with those being held expected to be sent back within a fortnight. It comes as new ‘one in one out’ agreement with France comes into force aimed at tackling dangerous crossings.
The Government has warned people considering travelling to the UK this way to think again, as they risk being returned and losing the money they pay traffickers. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper branded the first wave of detentions an “important step forward”. It comes after Keir Starmer hails a major UK-France deal to tackle Channel small boat crossings.
Ms 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.” The Government claims that the returns agreement – the first with mainland Europe since Brexit – is a breakthrough in its efforts to tackle smuggling gangs.
The new scheme will initially run until June next year, with reports suggesting up to 50 people a week will be returned – around 2,600 a year. In exchange people with a legitimate claim to live in the UK will be allowed to come over from France.
Ms Cooper continued: “Criminal gangs have spent seven years embedding themselves along our border and it will take time to unravel them, but these detentions are an important step towards undermining their business model and unravelling the false promises they make. These are the early days for this pilot scheme, and it will develop over time. But 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.”
In a statment the Home Office said: “Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and Home Office officials will continue to work round the clock over the coming weeks to identify and detain individuals under the treaty, and undertake the necessary processes to prepare them for their return to France.”
Under the agreement, which was reached during a UK-France summit in July, those allowed into the UK will be checked in advance for signs they could pose a security threat.
But the measures have come under fire from human rights groups, who have called on the Government to make more safe and legal routes available. Steve Valdez-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s refugee and migrant rights director, said: “A returns deal with France that makes access to safety in the UK – even for those with close family or connections here – dependent on someone else risking their life to cross the Channel only cements the role of smugglers in how people fleeing war and persecution must seek asylum in the UK.
“Once again, refugees are treated like parcels, not people, while the public is left to pay the price for, yet another cruel, costly failure dressed up as policy.”
And Louise Calvey, executive director at Asylum Matters, branded it “yet another attack on the human right to seek sanctuary”. She said: “It’s a grubby trade in human lives that will do nothing more than remove people from this country back into the hands of people smugglers. It will send them back to French shores where they’ll face escalating police violence: boats being slashed with families onboard, children being teargassed, violence which we know makes Channel crossings even more dangerous.”
On Monday the Home Office also announced a £100million boost to border security to pay for up to 300 additional National Crime Agency Officers. The cash will also fund a pilot of the ‘one-in, one-out’ returns deal with France.