Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood vows to fight last-minute migrant appeals

Shabana Mahmood accused migrants of "making a mockery" of Britain’s laws and generosity as she vowed to fight last-minute appeals against the Government’s "one in, one out" deal.

The Home Secretary said she would appeal against Tuesday’s High Court injunction, which paused an Eritrean migrant’s deportation hours before he was due to be flown back to France under Sir Keir Starmer’s deal.

She said she would fight to end "vexatious" and "intolerable" last-minute claims by migrants seeking to frustrate their deportations. She also pledged to review the Modern Slavery Act to stop any abuses of the legislation.

Ms Mahmood made the comments as it emerged that at least three Channel migrants were pulled off deportation flights on Wednesday for the third consecutive day.

They include a 25-year-old Eritrean whose deportation was temporarily blocked by the High Court on Tuesday evening to give him more time to provide evidence to support his claim to be a victim of modern-day slavery.

The Telegraph has established that Ms Mahmood is also facing fresh legal challenges against deportation on behalf of 40 of the 100 asylum seekers detained by the Home Office in August ahead of attempts to deport them back to France.

‘I will fight them at every step’

In a statement, Ms Mahmood said: “Last-minute attempts to frustrate a removal are intolerable, and I will fight them at every step.

“Migrants suddenly deciding that they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal, having never made such a claim before, make a mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity.

“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.”

Home Office sources said that they will appeal against Tuesday’s decision where the High Court judge determined the Eritrean should be given 14 days to challenge a Home Office decision that they are not a victim of modern slavery.

Ministers will also review the Modern Slavery Act itself, a piece of legislation championed by then-prime minister Theresa May, which has since been widely used to prevent deportations.

A source said: “The Home Office will appeal [against the High Court ruling], so that decision-making concludes rapidly and the migrant is able to be removed as soon as possible.

“The Home Secretary is urgently reviewing the Modern Slavery Act to assess where it is currently open to misuse. This is on top of an existing call for evidence looking at reforms to the Modern Slavery system.”

Officials said the Government remained determined to get the first deportation flights off this week.

The Eritrean’s aborted departure came after at least two migrants’ deportations on flights on Monday and Tuesday were halted by the Home Office after challenges from their lawyers.

Another 40 migrants ready to challenge

It is understood both lawyers cited the migrants’ vulnerability as victims of modern-day slavery and trafficking as a reason for their deportations to be postponed for further investigations.

Legal sources estimated 40 of the 100 migrants detained by the Home Office in August – in readiness to deport them to France – now have legal representation and are expected to challenge their removals.

Most of the detained migrants are from Eritrea, Sudan, Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, Syria and Libya, where campaigners say many are likely to have been victims of trafficking, torture, persecution and abuse.

Lawyers claimed that the Home Office’s selection of Channel migrants for deportation under the “one in, one out” scheme had been “chaotic”, without proper screening or adequate time provided for the Home Office to assess the asylum seekers’ cases.

Imogen Townley, the associate solicitor at Wilson Solicitors, said: “There has been quite an arbitrary and chaotic approach to selecting people arriving on small boats without any consideration given to whether they are properly suitable for return [to France].”

Wilson Solicitors represented a Libyan migrant whose flight was cancelled earlier this week. Ms Townley said the Government’s removal scheme with France had not been “scuppered” by Tuesday’s High Court ruling, but had set a precedent that cases should be properly considered before any deportation.

Ms Townley told the BBC: “Our client, whose removal directions were cancelled earlier this week, has not been dropped out of the scheme. He remains in detention.

“The sole reason for cancelling his removal directions was because it was very clear the Government had not properly considered his case.

“Whether he was or was not a trafficking victim will now be considered. After that, the Government will decide whether to return him to France. He is owed due process and proper, meaningful consideration of his case and access to justice.”

Government lawyers have raised concerns that the delays to assess trafficking claims could undermine the impact of the scheme as a deterrent, especially if other detained migrants lodge similar claims.

The High Court was told on Tuesday that the National Referral Mechanism (NRM), the Home Office body that identifies and assesses victims of slavery and human trafficking, cannot accept representations from abroad. This means that migrants cannot have their cases heard after they are returned to France.

Kate Grange, KC, the barrister representing the Home Office at Tuesday’s hearing, said the deterrent effect of the one in, one out policy would be undermined by the failure to remove the Eritrean migrant, even if he stayed in the UK for 14 more days while his case was considered.

She told the court: “The difficulty is everyone will come and say ‘I need 14 days’ and it will get extended, extended and extended.

“If this individual gets an extension, lots of the other people will … and that has an impact on public policy [of the one in, one out deportation scheme].”

Up to 60 of the migrants are thought not to have legal representation, which lawyers and campaigners said could delay any attempt to remove them. They argued the failure to properly consider their claims could strengthen any challenge against deportation.

On Wednesday, Liz Kendall, the Technology Secretary, said the temporary block on the Eritrean migrant’s deportation would not prevent the one in, one out deal going ahead.

“This is one person, it is not going to undermine the fundamental basis of this deal. This decision is disappointing, but it won’t prevent the rest of that deal going ahead,” she said.

The Home Office said it expected the first returns to take place “imminently”. The French interior ministry also said that it expected to fly asylum seekers to Britain from France on Saturday as part of the reciprocal one in, one out deal.

Emma Davis