(Bloomberg) — The UK government has decided to appeal a court decision to block the deportation of a migrant who was set to leave the country under a new “one in, one out” deal with France.
In a statement on Wednesday, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she would “fight” last-minute attempts to prevent removals, in a sign that the government is keen to be seen as increasingly tough on migrants crossing the English Channel on small boats. While the number of people making the journey hit a record high earlier this year, most are granted asylum.
It comes after Mahmood’s predecessor, Yvette Cooper, agreed a deal with France earlier in the summer which would see the UK return a number of migrants back to France in return for accepting the same number who had not attempted to cross the Channel. Prime Minister Keir Starmer hopes the program will act as a deterrent, raising the possibility that people who made the dangerous crossing might be returned.
The first flight was due to take off this month. But on Tuesday, an Eritrean man won a 11th-hour claim to temporarily block his deportation, arguing that he had been a victim of modern-day slavery.
“Last minute attempts to frustrate a removal are intolerable, and I will fight them at every step,” Mahmood said in the statement. “Migrants suddenly deciding that they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal, having never made such a claim before, make a mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity.”
The rising popularity of anti-immigration party Reform UK and other right-wing fringe groups is piling pressure on Starmer Starmer to bring down the number of people entering the UK. Though misinformation surrounding immigration is high — polls suggest voters vastly over-estimate the number of people who are entering the country without the required documentation — concerns around the capacity of public services such as education, housing and health services have kept the issue high on the political agenda.
That’s led to a handful of anti-migrant protests of the summer, and a well-attended rally led by far-right anti-Islam activist Tommy Robinson earlier this month. Several of those protests have been marked by violence, in some cases against the police.
Mahmood is reviewing the Modern Slavery Act to assess whether it is open to misuse, according to officials familiar with the matter. That’s on top of her commitment to review the way that Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protects the right to a private and family life, is being interpreted.
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