The Home Secretary has said that migrants who cross the channel on small boats will be detained by the end of the week under Sir Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal with France.
Yvette Cooper explained that people will be held immediately when they arrive in Britain and detained until they are removed, ahead of the deal coming into force on Tuesday.
Speaking to Sky News, Ms Cooper said: “The groundbreaking principle here is that people can be returned to France if they arrive on these dangerous and illegal small boats.
“In return, we will take people who have applied through a legal process, been through security checks but we should be returning people who have made these illegal crossings.”
Ms Cooper did not want to put a figure on the number of channel migrants that will be returned to France under the scheme, but it has been widely reported that 50 people per week could be returned. This year there has been a weekly average of more than 800 people making the crossing.
When quizzed about the numbers by the BBC, Ms Cooper said providing a figure could aid criminal gangs, but said the numbers will build up.
Ms Cooper told the Today programme: “We are not putting an overall figure on this programme. Of course, it will start will lower numbers and then build, but we want to be able to expand it. We want to be able to increase the number of people returned through this programme.”
She added: “We will provide regular updates, people will be able to see how many people are being detained, how many people are being returned, and it is right that we should be transparent around that.
“But we’re not setting the numbers in advance, firstly because there is no fixed number in terms of the overall number of people to come through this system, and secondly because we’re not going to provide (gangs) with that operational information.”
The Prime Minister has said ratification of the treaty will “send a clear message – if you come here illegally on a small boat you will face being sent back to France”.
The deal, which has now been agreed by the European Commission, means the UK will be able to send people crossing the Channel in small boats back to France in exchange for asylum seekers with ties to Britain.
It also means that anyone arriving in a small boat can be detained immediately, and space has been set aside at immigration removal centres in the expectation that detentions will begin within days.
The Tories have said the deal will make “no difference whatsover” as “just 6% of illegal arrivals” would be returned.
The deal has also been criticised by refugee charities, which have urged the Government to provide more safe, legal routes for asylum seekers instead.
Ministers have so far declined to say how many people could be returned under the deal, and insist that if the pilot is successful the figure will increase.
Under the terms of the agreement, announced during French President Emmanuel Macron’s state visit last month, adults arriving on small boats will face being returned to France if their asylum claim is inadmissible.
In exchange, the same number of people will be able to come to the UK on a new legal route, provided they have not attempted a crossing before and subject to documentation and security checks.
The Home Office said it had also learned from the “lengthy legal challenges” over the previous government’s Rwanda scheme and would “robustly defend” any attempts to block removal through the courts.
It is the first such deal with France, with the pilot scheme set to run until June 2026, pending a longer-term agreement.
Sir Keir said the deal was “The product of months of grown-up diplomacy delivering real results for British people”.
He added: “The days of gimmicks and broken promises are over – we will restore order to our borders with the seriousness and competence the British people deserve.”
Ms Cooper had previously described the move as “an important step towards undermining the business model of the organised crime gangs that are behind these crossings – undermining their claims that those who travel to the UK illegally can’t be returned to France”.
Ratification of the deal comes as both Britain and France battle to bring the small boats problem under control, with 2025 on course to be a record year for crossings.
Some 25,436 people have already made the journey this year, according to PA news agency analysis of Home Office figures – 49% higher than at the same point in 2024.
The issue has also sparked concern that a series of protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers could lead to public disorder similar to last year’s riots.
On Monday, the Home Office announced it was providing another £100 million to tackle people smuggling and would introduce new powers to seize devices from people suspected of facilitating crossings.
Ministers have also launched a crackdown on illegal working in an effort to reduce the “pull factors” said to be encouraging people to make the journey, while French authorities have changed their guidance to allow police officers to intercept boats while they are in shallow waters.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp attacked the plans, saying they would return “just 6% of illegal arrivals” and “make no difference whatsoever”.
He added: “The Rwanda removals deterrent, under which 100% of illegal arrivals would be removed, was ready to go last summer but Labour cancelled it just days before it was due to start with no proper replacement plan. As a result, this year so far has been the worst ever for illegal immigrants crossing the Channel.
“Only removing all illegal immigrants upon arrival will provide the necessary deterrent to stop the crossings. This is the Conservative plan, but Labour is too weak to implement it and as a result they have lost control of our borders.”
While the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan was in theory uncapped, it was expected to take only around 1,000 asylum seekers in its first five years of operation thanks to limited capacity in the East African nation.
The plan, which Sir Keir had previously dismissed as a “gimmick”, was scrapped as one of the first acts of the incoming Labour Government last year.
