A group of migrants on an inflatable dinghy leave the coast of northern France in an attempt to cross the English Channel to reach Britain as tougher migration controls were announced, from the beach of Petit-Fort-Philippe in Gravelines, near Calais, France, July 17, 2025. REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab
LONDON, Sept 17 (Reuters) – Britain on Wednesday pledged to fight what it called “vexatious, last minute claims” used to block or delay the deportation of migrants, a day after a court temporarily blocked an asylum seeker who arrived on a small boat being sent to France.
“I will fight to end vexatious, last-minute claims. I will robustly defend the British public’s priorities in any court. And I will do whatever it takes to secure our border,” interior minister Shabana Mahmood said in a statement.
On Tuesday a 25-year-old Eritrean man, who arrived in Britain on August 12, won an interim injunction at London’s High Court that prevented his removal on a flight to France under a “one in, one out” pilot scheme announced by Britain and France in July.
Judge Clive Sheldon had said there was a “serious issue to be tried” in relation to whether the man’s claim to be a victim of trafficking prevented his removal to France.
Mahmood said: “Migrants suddenly deciding that they are a modern slave on the eve of their removal, having never made such a claim before, make a mockery of our laws and this country’s generosity.”
The court ruling came with Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government facing mounting pressure to stop small boats taking asylum seekers across the Channel from Europe, a route by which more than 30,000 people have come so far in 2025.
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