Home Office refused permission to challenge ruling on deportation of migrant

The Home Office has been refused permission to challenge a High Court ruling that granted an Eritrean man a temporary block on his deportation to France.

Last week, Mr Justice Sheldon granted the man 14 days to make representations to support his claim that he was a victim of modern slavery.

On Tuesday, lawyers for the Home Office made a bid at the Court of Appeal to challenge the ruling.

Lord Justice Arnold, Lord Justice Lewis and Lady Justice Elisabeth Laing refused to grant permission to appeal, with detailed reasons to follow at a later date.

Lord Justice Arnold said: “We have decided to refuse permission to appeal against the judge’s decision.”

He added: “We have concluded that the judge made no error of law or principle in making the decision that he did.”

Lord Justice Arnold also said that they were “satisfied the judge was correct to hold that there was a serious issue to be tried on the question of whether the Secretary of State was acting unlawfully as a matter of English law in removing the respondent in circumstances which were inconsistent with the Secretary of State’s own statutory guidance”.

The guidance, which was changed the day after the High Court ruling in this case, gave someone the right to request reconsideration of a decision from the national referral mechanism (NRM),  which identifies and assesses victims of slavery and human trafficking, within a period of 30 days.

The revised policy sets out that anyone being removed to a safe country who wants to appeal against an NRM decision will be unable to do so.

Instead, they can launch a legal challenge from another country, such as France.

The man had been due to be removed to France at 9am on September 17 under the arrangement where the UK will send asylum seekers who have crossed the Channel back to France, in exchange for those who apply and are approved to come to Britain.

But in the decision last Tuesday temporarily pausing the deportation, 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.”

In written submissions, Kate Grange KC, representing the Home Office, said: “The Secretary of State for the Home Department contends that the judge erred when he determined that interim relief was appropriate.”

She added: “This case raises an issue of compelling public importance given the significance of the policy of removing to France under the treaty and the acute need to prevent and deter small boat journeys across the English Channel.

“The judge’s decision to grant interim relief, and for such a significant period in the context of this policy, causes real damage to the public interest and undermines a central policy objective.”

In written submissions, Sonali Naik KC told the court that the “judge clearly took account of the material factors and gave proper reasons for them in the context of this highly expedited hearing”.

She added: “This case should be considered in its own context and on its own facts, and does not have wider significance for others whom the appellant may seek to remove pursuant to the treaty she had entered into with France.

“This court should not interfere with the judge’s assessment unless it is plainly wrong and the appellant cannot point to any such basis on the material that was before the court or at all.”

Ministers agreed the pilot scheme with the French government in July as part of efforts to deter the record number of arrivals by small boat crossings so far this year.

Four asylum seekers have been removed from the country under the scheme, including a second Eritrean man who was deported on a flight from Heathrow to Paris after losing a High Court bid on Thursday to halt his removal.

The latest deportation was of an Afghan person, who was returned to France on Tuesday afternoon, the Home Office confirmed.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy said on Friday that the return deal with France serves as an “immediate deterrent”, also describing the pilot as “a milestone”.

He also said the Government hoped to see the number of deportations “grow over the coming months and years” as more small boats began making the dangerous journey in the early hours of Friday.