The first migrants have arrived from France under Labour’s ‘one in, one out’ deal, the Home Office has confirmed.
A family of three, including a small child, have come to Britain after successfully completing the online application process, a spokesman said.
Further details about the arrivals, including their nationality, have not been disclosed by the Government.
Four migrants have so far been sent back to France under the deal.
Since the treaty came into force on August 6, 6,752 small boat migrants have crossed the Channel and reached Britain.
Labour claims the scheme will undermine people traffickers’ tactics and ‘smash the gangs’ by persuading would-be migrants that crossing the Channel will be fruitless.
A Home Office spokesman said: ‘The UK-France deal is a historic agreement, and these are critical first steps.
Migrants disembarking from a Border Force vessel at Dover on September 19, a day which saw 1,072 arrivals across the Channel in total
‘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.’
When the deal was initially floated in July there were suggestions it would see around 50 migrants a week sent back to France.
But the launch of the scheme was beset with difficulties, including multiple legal challenges.
Last week the policy was plunged into chaos as the High Court blocked ministers from returning an Eritrean small boat migrant back to France.
The 25-year-old only arrived in Britain five weeks earlier, claimed he would be ‘destitute’ if the Home Office sent him back to France, breaching his human rights.
However, it was the migrant’s modern slavery claim which proved crucial in persuading the court to block his removal.
Mr Justice Sheldon granted an interim injunction barring the Home Office from deporting the man for 14 days while his claim to have been exploited – in Libya while on his way to the UK – was reconsidered.
A Home Office attempt to overturn that ruling was thrown out by the Court of Appeal yesterday.
The ruling – the first challenge of the policy to reach court – is thought to have triggered copycat claims.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – who scrapped the Tories’ Rwanda asylum deal as one of his first acts in office – previously claimed his agreement with French president Emmanuel Macron would see migrants ‘returned to France in short order’.
Migrants sprint across a beach at Gravelines, northern France, in August to reach a people trafficker dinghy just off the shore
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood is keeping key details of the scheme secret
To come to Britain under the ‘one in, one out’ deal, migrants must complete an application on a custom-made web page on the Home Office’s website.
Ministers have refused to discuss how individuals will be selected.
But it is thought it will prioritise migrants who are of nationalities which currently see high rates of asylum applications granted by the Home Office, such as Syrians, Sudanese and Eritreans.
Those who show they already have relatives here may also get priority.
Applicants must be able to prove their identity, show they are currently in France and set out the basics of why they believe they should be eligible, such as war or turmoil in their home country.
The Home Office says applicants will be barred if they have been ‘previously been removed from the United Kingdom’ or pose a ‘national security or public order risk’.
However, the treaty which set up the deal sets out how France is prevented from supplying any ‘personal data’ about applicants to Britain.
It opens the prospect of crucial information – such as any criminal convictions – being overlooked.
Migrants selected for the scheme will be flown here at the UK taxpayer’s expense and given a three month visa.
They will then apply to ‘regularise’ their stay – such as by lodging a full claim for asylum.
Home Office secrecy over the selection process has been blasted by a former borders watchdog.
John Vine, the ex-chief inspector of borders and immigration, told the Daily Mail last week: ‘The Home Office has said it wants to keep details quiet so the scheme cannot be exploited by traffickers.
‘But they will need to tell us the full facts because this is an important part of our democracy.
‘Ministers cannot keep the criteria of the scheme … secret forever because the public needs to know if it is working or not.’
