The Home Office is to lodge an appeal on Thursday against a High Court decision temporarily blocking the deportation of an Eritrean man under the UK-France migrants returns deal.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she would fight “last-minute claims” delaying the Government’s plans to remove some cross-Channel asylum seekers under the “one in, one out” agreement with Paris.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had been due to board a flight at 9am on Wednesday, but remained in the UK after a judge granted him a “short period of interim relief”.
In a strongly worded statement after the decision, Ms Mahmood said: “Last-minute attempts to frustrate a removal are intolerable, and I will fight them at every step.
“I will fight to end vexatious, last-minute claims.
“I will robustly defend the British public’s priorities in any court.
“And I will do whatever it takes to secure our border.”
She added that migrants making claims on the “eve of their removal, having never made such a claim before, make a mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity”.
The Home Office appeal is being lodged on Thursday against the decision, which gives the man 14 days to prove his claim that he was a victim of modern slavery. The Home Office is also reviewing anti-slavery laws.
Senior Treasury minister James Murray rejected suggestions that Labour had forgotten its values as he faced questions from broadcasters on Thursday morning.
“No, not at all. What’s driving this is what’s important to the British people,” the Chief Secretary to the Treasury told Sky News.
“As a Government, we’re responding to what’s important to people in the UK… and people are right to feel angry about the level of illegal migration.
“People are right to feel they want hotels to close. People are right to feel they want the Government to do more on this, and that’s exactly why we’re doing more on this.”
The Government is yet to deport migrants under the returns deal, which came into force last month and was agreed with Paris in July as part of efforts to deter rising numbers of small boat crossings in the Channel.
On Tuesday, lawyers acting on the Eritrean man’s behalf said the case “concerns a trafficking claim” and argued he faces a risk of “destitution” in France.
The Home Office defended the case, saying it was reasonable to expect the man to claim asylum in France.
Mr Justice Sheldon said on Tuesday evening: “It seems to me there is a serious issue to be tried with respect to the trafficking claim and whether or not the Secretary of State has carried out her investigatory duties in a lawful manner.”
He said that based on the arguments made in court, it did not seem there was a “real risk” the man would “suffer destitution if he was to be returned to France”.
The judge added that the case “should come back to this court as soon as is reasonably practical in light of the further representations that the claimant… will make on his trafficking decision”.
The Home Secretary is also reviewing modern slavery legislation to explore whether it is open to misuse.
The latest setback came after reports suggested the first flights to take people back to France under the deal departed without any migrants on board on Monday and Tuesday.
But the first removals are still expected to go ahead this week.
Under the deal, the UK will send back to France asylum seekers who have crossed the Channel, in exchange for those who apply and are approved to come to Britain.
France has reportedly said it will only accept a small initial contingent of deportations, while the UK has said it hopes to increase numbers over the course of the scheme in an effort to stop small boat crossings in the Channel.
