UK court blocks Eritrean man's deportation to France under new returns deal

# UK court blocks Eritrean man's deportation to France under new returns deal

The High Court in London has temporarily blocked the deportation of an Eritrean asylum seeker to France, handing Prime Minister Keir Starmer an early setback in the government's plan to return some people who arrive on small boats.

The order came on 2025-09-16, according to evidence source 7158. The 25-year-old man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had crossed the English Channel on 12 August and was due to be removed under the UK-France pilot scheme agreed in July. The court granted an interim injunction pending a full hearing of his trafficking claim.

Judge Clive Sheldon said there was a serious issue to be tried over the man's trafficking claim and whether the Home Office had carried out its duties lawfully. His ruling preserved the status quo, meaning the claimant remained in the United Kingdom and could not be removed the next day as planned.

The case is important because it is one of the first legal tests of the new returns agreement. Under the plan, people arriving in Britain irregularly would be sent back to France, while the UK would accept an equal number of recognised asylum seekers with family ties in Britain. Downing Street has described the approach as fair and balanced, but rights groups say it risks breaching international law by denying people the right to claim asylum.

The challenge also turns on trafficking safeguards. The man's claim had already been referred through the National Referral Mechanism, the system used to identify potential victims of slavery and human trafficking. The court's intervention suggests judges are willing to scrutinise whether the government can proceed with removals before those issues are resolved.

Politically, the ruling matters because Starmer has made stopping small boat crossings a central promise. The government is under pressure from both the hard right and human rights advocates, and the new arrangement with France was designed in part to show control. A pause like this does not end the policy, but it shows how quickly legal scrutiny can slow it down.

The case may also affect how quickly deportations under the scheme can begin in practice. The government has said removals would start imminently, but every injunction adds another layer of uncertainty. For now, the first major test has gone against ministers.