Migrants in court bid to halt deportations under Starmer’s controversial one-in, one-out deal with France

Migrants have launched a legal bid to halt deportations under the UK's controversial one in, one out returns deal with France over concerns that Labour is failing victims of trafficking and modern slavery.

Some 16 migrants will challenge Sir Keir Starmer’s scheme in the High Court on Wednesday and are expected to claim that the deal breaches modern slavery laws.

Minister for border security, Alex Norris, said that these cases “are exactly why we are reforming our laws to stop these last-minute claims”, adding: “Modern slavery claims must never be used to prevent the removal of illegal migrants”.

So far, 367 people have come to the UK under the programme, which sees small boat migrants returned to France in exchange for other asylum seekers, with 305 so far sent back.

The challenge comes as a coalition of 22 British and French charities has today called on the government to immediately halt the “dangerous scheme” in a letter that says survivors of torture and trafficking are being put at risk in “prison-like” detention.

Charity workers who have supported migrants detained under the programme have warned that asylum seekers are suffering from “alarmingly high levels of mental health issues”, with incidents of self-harm and attempted suicide.

At least 29 migrants who are believed to be children have been detained under the deal, charity Humans for Rights Network (HFRN) has said.

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At least eight of these cases have been accepted as children by local authorities or are now in the care of the local council awaiting the outcome of age assessments, according to the report, signed by Detention Action, Bail for Immigration Detainees, and the Immigration Law Practitioners Association, among others.

Maddie Harris, director of HFRN, warned that Home Office decision makers are conducting “flawed age assessments based purely on physical appearance and demeanour”. At least two of the cases have reached legal hearings, with the age-disputed children failing to get a stay of removal granted by a judge, Ms Harris said.

Nine age-disputed migrants are believed to have been removed under the one in, one out scheme, and three remain in immigration detention, she added. The Home Office said that age-disputed migrants were only removed after officials made an assessment that they looked significantly over 18.

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A spokesperson said that “robust processes [are] in place to ensure that unaccompanied asylum-seeking children are not removed under the UK-France treaty”.

Ms Harris said: “Being in a detention centre is a barrier to a fair and adequate age assessment. There is a real risk that children are being removed and have been. This is not adults pretending to be children because we know of eight children now in care”.

Many of the migrants detained under the scheme have been unable to access legal advice, with firms lacking the capacity to take on their cases, the charities’ statement said.

Charity Medical Justice, whose independent clinicians can assess the health of those detained, said that out of 20 clients, 15 had PTSD. Some 18 had clinical evidence that they had been tortured, and 14 of the group had clinical evidence of trafficking, the report said.

This reportedly included people who had experienced sexual assaults in Northern France or had a fear of smugglers operating there.

The statement warned: “People seeking asylum who may have experienced severe violence and highly traumatic events are locked away in prison-like facilities under this scheme, deprived of the support they need to recover and face substantial barriers to accessing justice”.

A recent prison inspectorate report into a one-in, one-out removal flight said that the men being deported had been detained at Brook House and Harmondsworth immigration removal centres. The Independent reported last month on the reality of life inside Brook House, where migrants suffer from severe mental health crises, and guards use force against them.

Charities warned that physical restraints used on migrants, which have included the use of handcuffs and a waist restraint belt, risk echoing their past experiences of trauma and torture. They said they were particularly concerned by officers using riot shields, dogs and pepper spray on a protest against the scheme by more than 60 people at Harmondsworth on 14 January.

Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group reported five age disputes at Brook House removal centre, near Gatwick, and Jesuit Refugee Service UK reported four at Harmondsworth, near Heathrow, in January this year alone. Detention Action also warned that the detention of young people was happening at a level “which [it has] not encountered before”.

A report from the prisons inspectorate published on Monday said that the treatment of detainees by staff on a deportation flight was “mostly good”, with staff “polite, friendly, and respectful”. However, the report found that “almost no information” was available to the men about what would happen to them in France.

A Home Office spokesperson added: “We are committed to ensuring that detention and removal are carried out effectively, and with dignity. Our one-in, one-out scheme means we can send those who arrive on small boats straight back to France - a safe country in which any protection claims can be considered.”