Legal challenges reportedly delay first departure under Starmer’s ‘one in, one out’ deal
The first flight carrying Channel migrants back to France under Sir Keir Starmer’s “one in, one out” deal has not gone ahead as planned, according to reports.
According to the Daily Telegraph, one migrant who was due to be flown from Heathrow to Paris on Monday night had their flight postponed, amid the threat of legal action.
It added that the Home Office was still planning to put him on a flight on Tuesday.
The Times also reported that last-minute legal challenges by lawyers acting on behalf of several migrants due to be deported this week had seen their removal delayed.
The paper said a claim submitted by one migrants, due to fly to Paris on Tuesday, had argued their experience of being tortured and trafficked should prevent them from being returned to France.
A Government source said the first deportation flights under the deal with France are expected to take place this week, the Press Association reported.
Earlier on Monday, skills minister Baroness Jacqui Smith refused to say how many people will be returned to France this week under the deal.
The French are reported to have said they will only be accepting a small initial contingent of deportations.
Ministers have previously said the scheme will ramp up the number of deportations over time.
The pilot scheme will see the UK send back to France asylum seekers who have crossed the Channel, in exchange for those who apply and are approved to come to Britain.
Reports suggest formal removal directions have been issued to those who arrived in the UK on small boats last month, telling them they will be deported within five days.
The number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel has topped 30,000 for the year so far.
It is the earliest point in a calendar year at which the 30,000 mark has been passed since data on the crossings was first reported in 2018.