Government vows to fight court bid to halt ‘one in, one out’ deportations

The UK Government has vowed to fight any legal efforts to block the deportation of migrants under the “one in, one out” deal as a court challenge by 16 asylum seekers begins.

A hearing in their case, based on modern slavery and human trafficking laws, will start at the Royal Courts of Justice later on Wednesday.

Ministers hope the scheme will deter migrants from coming to the UK in small boats across the English Channel – but an intervention by the courts could scupper their plans.

As part of the UK-France agreement which came into force in August, people who arrive by small boat can be detained and returned to France, in exchange for an equivalent number of people who apply through a safe and legal route.

Last month, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood admitted that more people have arrived in the UK under the pilot scheme than have been returned.

She said 281 people have been sent back to France and 350 people have come to the UK.

Downing Street insisted the number of migrants coming and going “will fluctuate”.

More than 65,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel since Sir Keir Starmer became Prime Minister.

Minister for Border Security and Asylum Alex Norris said: “Last-minute modern slavery claims must never be used to prevent the removal of illegal migrants.

“The Government will fight any legal attempt in the courts to frustrate their removal or deportation.

“These cases are exactly why we are reforming our laws to stop these last-minute claims and restore order and control to our border.”

On Monday, it was revealed that two members of a Home Office team tasked with escorting a migrant back to France under the scheme fell asleep on the job.

The pair dozed off while the migrant was being transported from an immigration removal centre to Paris in November last year, an HM Inspectorate of Prisons report found.