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A cabinet minister has asserted that the UK’s returns agreement with France remains on track, despite a high court ruling temporarily halted the removal of an Eritrean man.

The minister emphasized that the last-minute injunction stopping the individual from being sent to Paris will not undermine the “one in, one out” plan in the long term.

On Tuesday, a judge granted a short-term halt after the anonymous man argued he was a victim of trafficking and would face homelessness if returned to France.

She told Times Radio that she would not discuss specific cases, but added: “It involves one person, and will not weaken the fundamental basis of this deal.”

Judicial and Procedural Hurdles

A solicitor representing migrants questioned the government’s unplanned and disorganized approach” to choosing individuals for deportation, including cases where children were wrongly identified.

The lawyer from her firm said: “They have taken a random and unstructured approach in choosing people coming via small boats.”

She added that minors were included in the system even though guidelines state they must be explicitly removed from deportation plans.

Reports indicated that two 17-year-old boys were wrongly selected for the program previously.

Background of the Agreement

UK authorities last month held many Channel asylum seekers under the agreement, pledging to send them back to France “within weeks.”

Initially, removals were scheduled on commercial flights from Heathrow to Paris during this week, but none have been sent back as of yet.

Officials now face the prospect of further court appeals and setbacks. Sources confirmed that at least five more people were earmarked for removal this week.

Some critics have compared the situation to the former government’s Rwanda deportation plan, which faced repeated court obstacles. But, unlike that policy, the present challenges involve individual cases rather than the entire program.

Terms of the Deal

As part of the agreement, signed in July by the UK leader and Emmanuel Macron, the UK committed to detain Channel claimants and return to France. In exchange, France would take in a similar number of asylum seekers with relatives in the UK.

Starmer stated at the time: “There is no simple solution. but with a united effort, new tactics and a greater degree of determination, we can finally make progress.”

Recently, Mr Justice Sheldon who granted the temporary block explained that further investigation was needed to look into the man’s claim that he was a potential victim of human trafficking.

Proceedings heard that the man and his mother had gone to Ethiopia when he was a young child, and that he was later trafficked from there to Libya in 2023.

The applicant claimed he had then traveled via Italy to France, and entered the UK by dinghy on 12 August after his mother gave £1,000 to smugglers.

Future Plans

France has been preparing to send asylum seekers to the UK over the weekend as part of the reciprocal deal.

An official representative commented: “Initial returnees are still scheduled to arrive in France from the UK this week, and the first to leave from France will start on Saturday.”