A migrant Eritrean man is to be deported to France on Friday after the High Court refused to pause the Government’s ‘one in, one out’ removal scheme. The removal is due to take place at 06:15 on 19 September 2025.

The claimant, who cannot be named, arrived in Britain by small boat last month and lodged a claim against the Home Office ahead of the scheduled removal. In London, his lawyers sought interim relief while a full challenge to the decision was considered, arguing the move was procedurally unfair because he had not had a sufficient opportunity to present evidence that he is an alleged trafficking victim. The Home Office opposed the request, saying there was no serious issue to be tried. Mr Justice Sheldon refused the application, saying the test for an injunction had not been met and there was no serious issue to be tried.

The man said he fled Eritrea in 2019 because of forced conscription and spent time in Ethiopia, South Sudan and Libya before travelling to France, where he stayed in Paris for about a week and then lived in Dunkirk in an encampment known as the Jungle for around three weeks without making an asylum claim in France. He arrived in the UK by small boat, was detained by Border Force on 6 August and told his asylum claim was inadmissible on 9 August. The ruling follows a separate Eritrean case in which a judge found there was a serious issue to be tried over trafficking after a temporary block was granted. In that case, the national referral mechanism had found the man was unlikely to have been trafficked but allowed further representations. After Tuesday’s hearing, the Home Office revised its policy on reconsidering modern slavery decisions, so those being removed to a safe country who wish to appeal against an NRM decision cannot do so in the UK; they may instead bring a challenge from another country, such as France.