Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has asserted that the UK’s migrant deal with France remains on track, despite a judicial injunction temporarily halted the deportation of an Eritrean man.
Kendall stated that the emergency court order stopping the individual from being sent to Paris would not derail the returns plan permanently.
On Tuesday, a judge issued a short-term halt after the anonymous man argued he was a trafficked individual and would face homelessness if sent back to France.
Kendall stated on Times Radio that she would not discuss operational details, but added: “This is one person. and will not undermine the core principle of this agreement.”
Legal and Procedural Hurdles
Legal representative acting for migrants criticized the administration’s unplanned and disorganized approach” to choosing people for removal, including cases where children were wrongly targeted.
Imogen Townley from her firm said: “There has been quite an arbitrary and unstructured approach in choosing people arriving on small boats.”
She noted that children were included in the process despite guidelines state they must be exempted from deportation plans.
Reports suggested that two 17-year-old boys were erroneously chosen for the program last month.
Context of the Agreement
The Home Office last month detained dozens Channel migrants under the agreement, pledging to return them to France “in a short time.”
Initially, removals were planned on regular flights from Heathrow to Paris throughout this week, but no one have been sent back so far.
Officials now face the prospect of further legal challenges and setbacks. Sources confirmed that at least several additional people were earmarked for return this week.
Some critics have drawn parallels the challenges to the previous government’s overseas deportation plan, which encountered repeated court obstacles. However, unlike that policy, the present appeals focus on specific persons rather than the entire program.
Details of the Deal
As part of the agreement, signed in July by the UK leader and Emmanuel Macron, the UK committed to hold Channel migrants and send them back to France. In exchange, France would accept a similar number of asylum seekers with relatives in the UK.
The prime minister stated at the time: “There is no silver bullet. but with a joint attempt, fresh approaches and a new level of intent, we can finally make progress.”
On Tuesday night, the judge who granted the temporary injunction stated that further investigation was needed to examine the man’s assertion that he was a possible trafficking survivor.
Proceedings heard that the man and his mother had gone to Ethiopia when he was very small, and that he was later trafficked from there to Libya in 2023.
The applicant claimed he had afterward traveled via Italy to France, and arrived in the UK by small boat on 12 August after his mother gave £1,000 to smugglers.
Future Plans
French officials has been planning to fly asylum seekers to the UK this Saturday as part of the reciprocal agreement.
An official representative said: “Initial returnees are still scheduled to arrive in France from the UK this week, and the first to leave from France will begin this weekend.”
