Second deportation flight of week under UK-France deal set to take place today

An Eritrean man who arrived in the UK via small boat last month is to be deported back to France today.

It's the second deportation of the week under the government's "one in, one out" deal with the French.

The agreement seeks to remove migrants who cross the Channel and have an asylum claim rejected, in exchange for people who successfully apply in France and have links to Britain.

This morning's removal - due to take place via a 6.15am flight - comes after the government won a legal challenge.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has accused migrants who try to block their deportation of making a "mockery" of the UK's modern slavery laws.

The Eritrean man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was allegedly forced to flee his homeland in 2019 due to forced conscription, and passed through Ethiopia, South Sudan, Libya and France, before entering the UK.

Lawyers acting for him argued he had a "number of different medical needs" and has been a "victim of trafficking".

Sonaili Naik KC, representing the migrant, also told the High Court her client's case had been rushed.

She said: "They have just simply expedited a decision, for the purposes of trying to rush to maintain a removal."

The judge who ruled on this case was also the one who issued the temporary block in another case.

Mr Justice Sheldon's ruling in that case led to the Home Office revising its policy on reconsidering modern slavery decisions, so that anyone removed to a safe country who wants to appeal against a National Referral Mechanism (NRM) decision - which identifies and assesses victims of slavery and human trafficking - will now be unable to do so.

Instead, they can now appeal via judicial review from another country, such as France.

Sian Reeves, a lawyer for the Home Office, argued the migrant's alleged "trafficking claim can be investigated in France". She insisted to the court that his deportation could go ahead, as his "rights are protected" there.

Mr Sheldon ruled on Thursday evening that he agreed with the government's case, adding there is "significant public interest in favour of the claimant's removal".

He also said the migrant had given two very different accounts of being trafficked, meaning that "his credibility was severely damaged" and his allegations "could not reasonably be believed".

Read more:
How does the UK-France migrants deal work?

The Home Office has said further deportation flights are due later this week and into next week.

In exchange, the UK "will accept legal migrants through a new safe route in the coming days".

The UK-France deal was signed in July and saw the first migrants detained in the UK to await deportation in August.

It allows the UK to send back a migrant who crosses the Channel illegally in exchange for accepting the same number of migrants in France who have a valid asylum claim.

(c) Sky News 2025: Second deportation flight of week under UK-France deal set to take place today