Five asylum seekers have won a High Court challenge against Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood’s policy of stripping migrants of the right to appeal trafficking decisions, in a ruling that complicates but does not overturn Labour’s “one in, one out” returns agreement with France.
Five migrants have successfully challenged their removal from the UK at the High Court, after judges found it unlawful for the Home Office to deny suspected trafficking victims the right to appeal rulings rejecting their claims. The case centred on a policy change introduced by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood that disallowed migrants from challenging decisions finding they were not victims of trafficking, a move that had cleared the way for their deportation under the UK-France returns agreement. The five claimants argued they had been denied a fair opportunity to contest findings that they were not victims of modern slavery, and the court agreed, ruling the policy incompatible with legal safeguards designed to protect potential trafficking victims.
What the Court Decided
Judges found that the government’s aim of accelerating removals under the UK-France agreement could not override the statutory protections owed to suspected trafficking victims. Representing the claimants, their lawyer argued that fundamental rights could not be “sacrificed for the sake of expediency and speed of decision-making or a desire to accelerate removals” — an argument the court accepted in full. As a result of the ruling, the Home Office will now be required to reassess each of the five claimants’ cases before any deportation can proceed.
Crucially, the judgment does not invalidate the UK-France “one in, one out” agreement itself, which remains in force. Ministers are now expected to consider appealing the ruling, while also reviewing how the wider returns scheme can continue to operate in a way that complies with the court’s findings.
How the Returns Deal Works
Under the Anglo-French agreement, migrants who arrive in the UK via small boat can be apprehended and sent back to France, in exchange for the UK accepting an equal number of people who have applied to come to Britain through legitimate routes. Since the treaty took effect, 921 small boat migrants have been returned to France under the scheme, representing 3.5 per cent of all small boat arrivals in that period. Over the same timeframe, the UK has accepted 896 migrants from France in return.
Reaction to the Ruling
Human rights organisations have welcomed the High Court’s decision, arguing it reinforces the UK’s legal obligations under modern slavery and trafficking legislation to properly assess whether someone is a genuine victim of exploitation before removing them from the country. The ruling is expected to shape how the government approaches future removals under the France agreement, particularly in cases involving claims of trafficking or modern slavery, as ministers weigh whether to challenge the judgment or adapt the scheme to operate within its terms.
