Two Home Office flights leave Heathrow without migrants after High Court blocks first removals

Two scheduled Home Office removals flights departed London Heathrow on Wednesday bound for Paris with no Channel migrants on board, after a High Court injunction prevented the first planned deportations under the government's "one-in, one-out" returns agreement with France.

An Air France service due to leave at about 9 a.m. and a later flight at 3:20 p.m. were seen take off from Heathrow with seats unfilled and no obvious Border Force escorts or contractors aboard, according to observers. The moves follow a legal challenge by a 25-year-old Eritrean man who arrived in the UK by small boat five weeks ago and successfully obtained an interim injunction restricting his removal.

The High Court granted the anonymous applicant a 14-day injunction after hearing that his claim under the UK's modern slavery laws raised a "serious issue to be tried," Mr Justice Sheldon said. Lawyers for the man argued that he would face destitution and risk multiple human rights breaches if returned to France. The court heard that the applicant, who says he was trafficked to Libya in 2023 and later travelled via Italy and France, arrived in the UK on Aug. 12 and initially denied exploitation during a screening interview the following day before later lodging a modern slavery claim.

The judge said the government body responsible for assessing modern slavery claims would be unable to carry out its investigatory duties if the applicant were removed, and ordered the temporary bar on deportation while the matter is considered further.

The injunction is the first court challenge of the returns scheme to reach the High Court and is likely to prompt similar last-minute legal actions, according to lawyers and campaign groups. Legal interventions and other claims are understood to have delayed or blocked additional planned removals in recent days.

The Home Office has declined to discuss details of individual deportation attempts. A spokeswoman for the prime minister said France is a safe country and that ministers were expecting the first flight to take off "imminently," rejecting suggestions the system was in disarray. Auberge des Migrants, a French pro-migrant charity opposed to the returns scheme, had said it was told deportations were scheduled for the flights.

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp, who has been critical of the Labour government's approach, said the scheme was "clearly dead" and blamed a wave of legal claims under human rights and modern slavery laws. Prime Minister Keir Starmer has maintained that the bilateral agreement with France would allow migrants to be returned "in short order," but ministers were warned repeatedly that domestic human rights protections could complicate removals.

Under the agreement, which came into effect on Aug. 7, the government said it would remove an individual to France for every person who crosses the Channel in small boats. Since the scheme began, more than 5,400 small-boat arrivals have reached the UK, and official figures show more than 31,000 migrants have crossed so far this year — an increase on the same period last year.

Those selected for removal are understood to be held at facilities such as Harmondsworth removal centre near Heathrow before transfer. The process envisages that individuals deported to France will be taken to the French government's airport processing centres, known as ZAPIs, where arrivals are screened and accommodated pending further decisions. The ZAPIs have secure facilities, outdoor exercise areas and basic communal amenities; the French authorities say most people spend an average of around three weeks there before a further outcome is determined.

Border Force staff and contractors from firms employed to assist with removals, including Mitie, have been identified as likely escorts for deportations. The Home Office and its contractors did not comment publicly on whether escorts were assigned to the flights that left Heathrow on Wednesday.

The legal ruling comes amid political and operational pressure over Channel crossings, which have risen sharply in recent years. Labour abolished the previous government's controversial Rwanda deportation plan shortly after taking office and pursued the bilateral returns deal with France as an alternative route to reduce small-boat crossings.

Ministers acknowledge that a growing number of late-stage legal and human rights claims make rapid removals more complex. The government's legal position will be tested in further cases if individuals selected for removal file similar challenges. The interim order in this case prevents that particular deportation for two weeks while the court considers the trafficking and investigatory issues raised.

The developments on Wednesday mark an early and significant legal hurdle for a returns scheme that the government has presented as central to its response to Channel crossings. If further injunctions follow, officials will face a sequence of court hearings that could delay or limit the practical effect of the agreement with France while claims are resolved.