Three migrants have come in to the UK from France as part of the Government’s new “one in, one out” policy. A family of three, including a small child, are the first to come in to the UK thanks to a deal with the French government. They arrived on a commercial flight after going through security vetting.
The Home Office has so far deported four people to France, but has to accept people into our country as part of the arrangement. Ministers say the scheme will act as a deterrent to illegal immigration, because people who cross the Channel in small boats are at risk of being deported while those who apply for asylum legally might be allowed in.
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 four who have been removed are an Indian, an Iranian, an Afghan and an Eritrean.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said today she intended to “ramp up” one-in, one-out deportations to France.
Under the scheme, which came into force last month and seeks to remove those who crossed the English Channel back to the continent, in exchange for those who apply in France and are approved being able to come to Britain.
“I will be ramping up the numbers and I hope to say more about that in the weeks to come,” Ms Mahmood added.
“You start with a small first step and then you ramp up, which is exactly what we’re going to be doing.
“We have a clear agreement with the French, we will want to see those numbers increase… I’m not going to get ahead of operational decisions.”
She continued: “I want us to get to a point where the numbers that are being removed are acting as a deterrent and stop people getting on the boats in the first place.
“We have proved it can work, we’ve got flights off the ground, more are going this week, and we will be looking to ramp up the numbers.”
