UK High Court ruled against Eritrean man in case that tested new \u2018one in, one out\u2019 migration scheme.<\/p>\n
An Eritrean man who has been fighting to stay in the United Kingdom is set to be deported to France after losing a High Court bid to have his removal temporarily blocked.<\/p>\n
The 25-year-old Eritrean man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, crossed the English Channel in August and was originally due to be removed on Wednesday<\/a> under a \u201cone in, one out\u201d pilot scheme agreed between the UK and France in July.<\/p>\n Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list<\/p>\n But London\u2019s High Court granted him an interim injunction on Tuesday, preventing his removal, pending a full hearing of his trafficking claim.<\/p>\n The man told the court he fled Eritrea in 2019 because of forced conscription before ultimately making his way to France. In France, he went to Dunkirk, on the English Channel, where he stayed in an encampment known as \u201cthe jungle\u201d for about three weeks before travelling to the UK.<\/p>\n The UK\u2019s Home Office opposed the bid to temporarily block the man\u2019s removal and, at a hearing on Thursday, the High Court agreed, saying there was \u201cno serious issue to be tried in this case\u201d.<\/p>\n The judge, Clive Sheldon, said the man gave inconsistent accounts of his allegations of trafficking.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was open to [the Home Office] to conclude that his credibility was severely damaged and his account of trafficking could not reasonably be believed,\u201d the judge said.<\/p>\n The man is set to be deported to France on Friday at 6:15am local time (05:15 GMT).<\/p>\n UK puts new plan into action<\/p>\n As the court was ruling against the Eritrean man, the UK interior ministry, the Home Office, was actively testing out its new scheme, deporting a man from India to France. The man, who arrived in the UK on a small boat in August, was sent to France on Thursday on a commercial flight.<\/p>\n This deportation was the first under the partnership between the UK and France, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer saying it provided \u201cproof of concept\u201d that the deal works.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to ramp that up at scale, which was always envisaged under the scheme,\u201d Starmer told reporters at a news conference<\/a> alongside US President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n Under the \u201cone in, one out\u201d plan between the UK and France, people arriving in the UK would be returned to France, while the UK would accept an equal number of recognised asylum seekers with family ties in the UK.<\/p>\n Downing Street has defended the plan, calling it a \u201cfair and balanced\u201d system designed to reduce irregular migration.<\/p>\n UK charities have condemned the scheme.<\/p>\n The \u201ccruel policy targeting people who come here to seek safety\u201d was a \u201cgrim attempt \u2026 to appease the racist far-right,\u201d Griff Ferris, of the Joint Council for the Welfare of Immigrants, told the news agency AFP.<\/p>\n Anti-immigrant sentiment on the rise<\/p>\n While Starmer has made stopping small boat crossings central to his government\u2019s agenda, anti-immigrant sentiment has continued to rise in the UK.<\/p>\n