Labour's efforts to ramp up deportations to France under the one-in, one-out scheme could be thrown into disarray by a fresh round of legal claims from migrants challenging the lawfulness of the deal.
Migrants who had been detained under the programme, which launched last August, argued at the High Court on Wednesday that the government was failing trafficking victims.
The 16 migrants, some of whom have already been deported to France, claim that French authorities do not support victims of trafficking and that men in France were not receiving the same help as women and children.
They are also challenging the Home Office’s policy to block migrants from contesting decisions made on their modern slavery claims. The lawfulness of the way the scheme is operated will be considered at a hearing at a later date.
Mr Justice Chamberlain heard that, as of the end of January, 40 per cent of migrants detained under the one-in, one-out removal deal have made trafficking claims. Home Office lawyers said that any decision made on how the government is dealing with trafficking victims would have a big impact on their ability to operate the scheme.
As of 5 February, 312 people had been removed to France, and 365 brought to the UK.
Kate Grange KC, for the Home Office, said: “40 per cent of historic cases so far have been raising trafficking claims, so it’s not an insignificant number.”
Some 48 migrants have taken legal action to try and halt their removal under the scheme, of which four were successful, the court heard.
Mr Justice Chamberlain acknowledged that the number of migrant’s legal claims “are putting pressure on the courts resources”.
Ms Grange insisted that “people are being accommodated” on arrival in France and that they had access to medical support. She added: “There isn’t any risk [if individuals are sent to France], people can bring their [legal] claims from France and they will be supported, they will get the accommodation they need and the medical support they need.”
However, the High Court heard that one of the migrants, known only as DNG, was at risk of suicide, having been removed to France under the deal. His brother had taken his own life in France, and he was suffering from serious mental health problems, the court was told.
The Home Office argued that DNG had been accessing psychiatric support in France and said it would oppose his application to return to the UK.
Two of the migrants had also been involved in age disputes with the Home Office after they claimed to be children. A deportation flight to Paris is scheduled under the scheme next week, but no flight took off this week, the court heard.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood told MPs last week that “we would obviously want to see much larger numbers” of people being deported under the one-in, one-out deal.
She said that the pilot scheme has “proved the concept”, but legal challenges and detention capacity limits in the UK and France were limiting expansion.
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