High Court blocks five migrant removals under UK-France agreement

A UK High Court ruled that five migrants could not be returned to France under the one-in, one-out agreement because their claims of being trafficking victims were not properly considered. The court found that migrants arriving by small boat were often too malnourished, lacked English-language skills, and were sleep-deprived to present evidence within the five-day decision window.

Medical examinations and legal reports that could support trafficking claims frequently take weeks to emerge.

Court findings The judge determined that the policy change preventing appeals after an initial negative trafficking decision had a negative impact and was unlawful for some of the migrants. The same ruling upheld the majority of Home Office decisions that their asylum claims were unfounded and their protection claims inadmissible.

The lawyer for the migrants argued that fundamental rights could not be sacrificed for expediency or speed of decision-making.

Agreement background Under the Anglo-French agreement, people arriving via small boat can be returned to France in exchange for an equal number of people accepted through legal routes. Since the treaty took effect, 921 small boat migrants have been returned and the UK has accepted 896 migrants from France. The returns represent 3.5 per cent of all small boat arrivals during the period.