Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has admitted there is "no specified number agreed" on how many migrants will be returned under the UK and France’s "one in, one out deal".
The deal, which came into force on Tuesday, means the UK will be able to send people crossing the Channel in small boats back to France, with detentions expected to begin "within a matter of days".
In exchange, the UK would accept a number of asylum seekers with ties to Britain.
However, speaking to ITV News, Cooper declined to put a ‘specified number’ on the number of migrants would be returned to France under the scheme.
She said: "There’s no specified number agreed as part of the overall programme, because we want to build it and we want to test it.
"This is a pilot programme. We expect it to build over time and we want to increase the numbers, but we need to test the processes, because this has never happened before.
"And I think it’s right that that principle of being able to return people who’ve arrived illegally by small boat, but to be able to take people in on a one-for-one basis who have applied through a lawful process is the right one.
"Of course, we need to do it alongside stronger law enforcement, alongside other measures as well."
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