Shabana Mahmood has condemned small boat migrants who lodge last-minute legal challenges after the Government’s ‘one in, one out’ policy was left in disarray.
The Home Secretary said migrants ‘make a mockery of our laws’ when they try to block their deportation by claiming they are victims of ‘modern slavery’.
Her comments are the most robust acknowledgment yet made by a Labour minister of how legal challenges are deployed to frustrate deportation measures.
However, Ms Mahmood was warned earlier this week by Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp that the returns agreement with France was doomed to face a ‘slew of last-minute legal challenges’.
Since the new policy was announced in July the Government has been repeatedly cautioned that it was vulnerable to human rights and modern slavery claims.
In the first case to reach court, on Tuesday, a judge imposed a 14-day delay on the deportation of an Eritrean small boat migrant who claimed he had been exploited in Libya.
Ms Mahmood said: ‘Last minute attempts to frustrate a removal are intolerable, and I will fight them at every step.
‘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.’
She added: ‘I will fight to end vexatious, last-minute claims.
‘I will robustly defend the British public’s priorities in any court. And I will do whatever it takes to secure our border.’
Air France’s service to Paris Charles de Gaulle airport pictured on the apron at London Heathrow airport this afternoon. The Airbus A220-300 took off with no migrants aboard.
The Home Office will appeal against the duration of the 14 day injunction imposed by Mr Justice Sheldon, sources said.
Government lawyers will aim to have the length of the injunction reduced so the Eritrean man can be deported, it is understood.
The Home Secretary has also launched an urgent review of the Modern Slavery Act to assess where it is currently open to misuse, sources added.
But Tory frontbencher Mr Philp blasted Ms Mahmood for presiding over ‘border chaos’.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood blasted migrants for ‘making a mockery’ of Britain’s laws by lodging ‘vexatious’, last-minute legal challenges
He said: ‘The new Home Secretary is in a blind panic because her returns gimmick has already collapsed in chaos.
‘When I told her in Parliament on Monday that fundamental change is needed to get rid of human rights and other laws in immigration cases, she arrogantly dismissed my point.
‘Now three days later in desperation she seems to be changing her mind.
‘But human rights fanatics Keir Starmer and [Attorney General] Lord Hermer will never allow real change.
‘This weak Government will continue to preside over border chaos.’
It came after flights earlier earmarked for deportations took off without a single migrant on board again today.
The Eritrean migrant who brought this week’s challenge had been scheduled to be aboard an Air France flight from London Heathrow to Paris this morning, but it departed with no migrants aboard.
They were also absent from another aircraft this afternoon which had previously been pinpointed by a French charity as a Home Office removals flight.
Deportations had also failed to take place on Monday and Tuesday.
The unnamed 25-year-old Eritrean’s successful challenge has opened the floodgates to a series of copycat cases by migrants selected for the deportation scheme.
About half of the 92 migrants reported to be in Home Office custody are expected to bring legal claims, legal sources said, by deploying similar human rights and ‘modern slavery’ grounds.
It could leave Labour’s returns deal in legal limbo for months.
An unknown number of other removals are also thought to have been blocked by separate legal actions, often lodged at the last minute.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer – who scrapped the Tories’ Rwanda asylum deal as one of his first acts in office – previously claimed his agreement with French president Emmanuel Macron would see migrants ‘returned to France in short order’.
Labour was repeatedly warned the European Convention on Human Rights, which is enshrined in domestic law by Labour’s Human Rights Act, would prove to be a massive stumbling block.
However, the PM has insisted Britain will never leave the human rights treaty.
Before he entered politics, barrister Sir Keir edited a legal manual on how to interpret the new human rights laws shortly after they came into force, describing how they had ‘enormous potential’ and represented a ‘new way of thinking’ about the law.
Yesterday’s High Court case by the Eritrean migrant heard he claims to be a victim of ‘modern slavery’ and would be ‘destitute’ if the Home Office sent him back to France.
Lawyers for the man, who arrived in Britain five weeks ago and was granted anonymity by the court, argued his deportation would risk multiple human rights breaches.
He told the Home Office he and his mother travelled to Ethiopia when he was a young child, and that he was trafficked from there to Libya in 2023.
The man then made his way via Italy to France, and arrived in Britain by small boat across the Channel on August 12 after his mother paid £1,000 to smugglers.
The following day during an asylum screening interview with the Home Office he was asked if he had been exploited, and replied ‘no’, court papers showed.
But a few days later he lodged a claim under UK modern slavery laws alleging he had been exploited in Libya.
His barrister Sonali Naik KC, a former chair of human rights group Liberty, told the court there was ‘a serious issue to be tried’ about whether the man would face destitution.
However, it was the migrant’s modern slavery claim which proved crucial in persuading the High Court to block his removal.
The emergency hearing was told the organisation which examines the claims would not be able to carry out its work if the applicant was abroad.
Granting the 14-day injunction, Mr Justice Sheldon said: ‘It seems to me there is a serious issue to be tried with respect to the trafficking claim and whether or not the Secretary of State has carried out her investigatory duties in a lawful manner.’
The PM’s official spokesman yesterday denied that the blocking of the first two flights meant the system was ‘a shambles’, or that ministers were powerless against the courts.
‘France is a safe country and we are expecting the first flight to take off imminently,’ he told reporters.
Since the ‘one-in, one-out’ deal came into force on August 7, more than 5,400 small boat migrants have reached Britain.
The delays – and the prospect of more challenges ending up in court – are a massive blow for the Government as it comes under intense pressure to tackle the Channel crisis.
So far this year 31,026 migrants have arrived, up 38 per cent on the same period last year.
Former home secretary Yvette Cooper was moved sideways to the Foreign Office in this month’s reshuffle after she failed to make progress.
It is believed the migrants planned to be deported to France are currently being held at Harmondsworth Removal Centre, near Heathrow.
Any who are finally deported will then be taken to a French government processing centre, known as a ZAPI.
The ultra secure ‘waiting zone’ can accommodate up to 160 people at one time.
The building, which is used as an alternative for migrant hotels, has an outdoor space where asylum seekers can exercise, a canteen, a children’s room and a television room.
Each migrant will have their own bedroom with family members and friends allowed to visit.
Once entering the ZAPIs, cameras are confiscated from detainees and mobile phone use is limited.
Most individuals remain in the centre for an average of three weeks where they will then either be granted entry to France, sent back to their country of arrival or held on criminal charges.
Up to 10,000 people pass through the ZAPI at the Charles de Gaulle airport every year.
