The Home Office has released footage of the first Channel migrants being detained in Dover as their "one in, one out" agreement with France gets underway this week .
Sharing the update with the nation, a video montage shows new arrivals into Dover being processed and detained by the Home Office in their centres, ahead of deportation back to France.
Sharing the footage on social media, the Home Office confirmed that "the first detentions of small boat migrants set to be returned to France have been completed".
Home Office
|The Home Office has released footage of Channel migrants being detained upon arrival in Dover
They added: "Under our returns pilot, they will soon be returned to France."
In the first day since the scheme was implemented by the Labour Government, more than 155 migrants crossed the Channel into Britain.
Defending the scheme, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper assured GB News viewers that the migrants arriving into Britain "are eligible for immediate detention and return".
Cooper said: "The transfers to immigration removal centres are underway as we speak. We won't provide operational details at this point, that criminal gangs can simply use and exploit.
Home Office
|The newly released footage shows migrants being escorted to detention centres as part of the new agreement with France
"But no one should be in any doubt, anyone who arrives from now on is eligible for immediate detention and return."
Footage from both the Manston and Western Jet Foil detention centres was released by the Home Office, showing their latest operation in an attempt to curb Channel crossings in cooperation with France.
Although the Government have refused to disclose concrete numbers as to how many migrants will be returned to France, it is understood that up to 50 per week could be returned to France, in exchange for an asylum seeker with connections to Britain.
Physical data and biometric data such as DNA and fingerprints are processed in the centres, ahead of the deportation of some migrants back to France.
Home Office
|The migrants will be detained and processed as part of the 'one in, one out' agreement
In a record period for the Labour Government since coming into office, more than 25,000 migrants have crossed illegally into Britain in 2025 alone.
Yvette Cooper has said the Government will "robustly defend" any legal challenges to the UK-France pilot scheme after declaring France is a safe country.
"It's the beginning of the pilot [scheme], and we will build over time," she said after being pressed about if the deal will be tied-down by legal challenges.
"But we're also clear that France is a safe country, so we will robustly defend against any legal challenge that people try."
Cooper said "we do expect for people to start being returned in a matter of weeks".