UK government says it will fight legal blocks preventing migrant removals
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on September 17, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
The UK government is determined to overcome legal challenges to migrant deportations, emphasizing border security and public priorities.
LONDON (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.
(Reporting by William James; editing by Michael Holden)
The UK government has pledged to fight legal blocks that it describes as 'vexatious, last-minute claims' used to delay the deportation of migrants.
A 25-year-old Eritrean man won an interim injunction at London's High Court, preventing his removal to France under a 'one in, one out' policy.
Interior minister Shabana Mahmood stated that claims of modern slavery made just before removal undermine the country's laws and generosity.
More than 30,000 asylum seekers have crossed the Channel from Europe this year, prompting pressure on the government to address the issue.
The government aims to robustly defend the British public's priorities in court and secure the border against illegal crossings.
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