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Technology Secretary Liz Kendall has asserted that Keir Starmer’s migrant deal with France will continue, despite a judicial ruling blocked the removal of an Eritrean man.

The minister stated that the last-minute injunction preventing the 25-year-old from being flown to Paris will not undermine the returns plan permanently.

Earlier this week, a judge granted a temporary injunction after the anonymous man claimed he was a victim of trafficking and would face homelessness if sent back to France.

She told Times Radio that she would not discuss specific cases, but reiterated: “This is one person. and will not undermine the core principle of this deal.”

Legal and Procedural Challenges

Legal representative acting for migrants questioned the government’s “arbitrary and chaotic approach” to selecting people for removal, including cases where minors were mistakenly targeted.

Imogen Townley from her firm commented: “There has been a random and unstructured approach to selecting people coming via small boats.”

She noted that minors were included in the system despite guidelines state they must be explicitly removed from such procedures.

Accounts indicated that two underage boys were erroneously selected for the program previously.

Background of the Agreement

The Home Office last month held dozens Channel migrants under the agreement, pledging to send them back to France “in a short time.”

Initially, removals were scheduled on commercial flights from Heathrow to Paris throughout this week, but none have been returned as of yet.

Officials now confront the prospect of further legal challenges and delays. Sources indicated that at least several additional people were selected for return this week.

Some critics have drawn parallels the situation to the former administration’s overseas deportation plan, which encountered repeated court obstacles. But, unlike that policy, the present appeals involve specific persons rather than the entire program.

Terms of the Deal

As part of the agreement, signed in July by the UK leader and Emmanuel Macron, the UK committed to detain small boat migrants and send them back to France. In return, France would take in a similar number of asylum seekers with relatives in the UK.

The prime minister stated at the time: “There is no simple solution, but with a joint attempt, fresh approaches and a greater degree of intent, we can finally make progress.”

Recently, the judge who granted the temporary injunction explained that further investigation was needed to look into the man’s assertion that he was a possible victim of human trafficking.

Proceedings heard that the man and his mother had gone to Ethiopia when he was very small, and that he was later trafficked from there to Libya in 2023.

He said he had afterward traveled via Italy to France, and entered the UK by dinghy on 12 August after his mother gave £1,000 to smugglers.

Future Plans

French officials has been preparing to send asylum seekers to the UK over the weekend as part of the reciprocal agreement.

An official representative commented: “Initial returnees are still scheduled to arrive in France from the UK this week. and the initial departures from France will start this weekend.”