Children could be deported back to France with their family members if they cross the Channel in a small boat.
The UK’s new returns deal, which starts officially on Wednesday, will see any adults arriving via small boat at risk of being returned to France for the first time.
And those who make the dangerous journey with relatives who are under 18-years-old face being returned together, as a family unit.
Any minor who travels to the UK unaccompanied would not be eligible for deportation.
In exchange, the government’s deal with France agrees to accept asylum seekers into the UK under a “one in, one out” policy, subject to security checks and eligibility criteria.
The Home Office said people from countries where they are most likely to be granted asylum as genuine refugees, or exploited by smuggling gangs, will be first in line to be granted permission to come to the UK.
And asylum seekers who have existing family connections to Britain will also be prioritised.
In order to be deemed eligible, they must be an adult (or family group), located in France, and must not have French immigration status or have been granted international protection in another country.
Once in the UK, they would be be given three months to claim asylum and during that time are not allowed to work, study or have access to benefits.
If, during that three month period, their asylum claim is rejected they could still then be removed from the country.
Families can apply as a group but if one application is refused, all would be void, with no automatic family reunion rights for individuals, it is understood.
Those who try to gain entry via a small boat can be immediately detained and assessed for deportation under the new deal.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said the first detentions would “take place in a matter of days” and these would be referred “immediately” to French authorities.
But she was unable to specify when the first deportations would actually take place – beyond telling LBC Radio it would happen “in a matter of weeks”.
She added: “We need to work those processes through, but we want to see the returns themselves take place as swiftly as possible. Bear in mind, people will be detained until they are returned.”
The deal, designed to discourage people from trying to enter the UK via a small boat, was agreed by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron last month.
It is initially operating as a pilot scheme until June 2026, pending a longer-term agreement or cancellation by either country.
The government has not set any numerical targets but as the scheme becomes operational it will be expanded. Initially, around 50 people per week are expected to be sent to France.
Cooper acknowledged that the pilot scheme alone will not stop boat crossings but she said the signing of a returns deal was a significant step forward.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, she said: “We never claimed that there is a single silver bullet on this. So, this goes alongside the 28 per cent increase in returns of failed asylum seekers that we have brought in.
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“It goes alongside the change to those French maritime rules that I referred to which means France taking action in French waters to prevent boat crossings in the first place, and the much stronger law enforcement that we announced earlier this week with the additional National Crime Agency investigators and police to be able to go after the criminal gangs. We have to do all of these things.”
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the agreement would not “stop the boats” – and denied that her party was partly to blame for failing to stop the flow of migrants across the Channel.
“We need to stop the boats. It is not affordable, it is not good for community cohesion, it is not good for crime, it is costing us a lot of money. We need to get a grip on this issue as quickly as possible,” she said.
Asked whether the Conservatives were partly to blame for the immigration and asylum situation, Badenoch told reporters: “No I don’t accept that at all, because what Labour are doing is just rubber-stamping all of the applications and saying they’re processing.”
Labour scrapped “the only deterrent that this country had, which was the Rwanda plan”, she added.
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