'One‑In, One‑Out' Policy Dead‑Ended: Starmer's Migrant Pact Struck Down by Judges

High Court judges have delivered a sharp rebuke to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's flagship migrant returns pact, blocking the first deportation flight under the UK's 'one-in, one-out' agreement with France.

The ruling, handed down on 16 September 2025, came after a 25-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker won an interim injunction, claiming destitution and human rights breaches if returned to Paris, exposing flaws in Labour's Channel crisis strategy.

Starmer's Migrant Pact with France Falters

Sir Keir Starmer unviled the 'one-in, one-out' policy with French President Emmanuel Macron on 3 July 2024, hailing it as a fast-track solution to Channel crossings.

The deal, which replaced the scrapped Rwanda scheme, promised reciprocal migrant exchanges but faltered before takeoff. By mid-September 2025, there have been zero deportations despite over 5,400 small boat arrivals since 7 August 2024.

Tensions escalated when two Heathrow flights, scheduled for 15 and 16 September 2025, were grounded by legal injunctions, costing taxpayers an estimated £500,000 in aborted operations. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp slammed it as 'complete disarray', noting 'two flights, a legal defeat and zero deportations' amid unchecked arrivals. By 17 September, the policy hung in limbo, with experts predicting similar claims to flood the courts.

Eritrean Claimant's High Court Victory Halts Deportation Flight

The unnamed Eritrean claimant arrived in the UK on a small boat on 12 August 2025, after fleeing Eritrea via Italy and France. Detained after screening on 13 August, he lodged a modern slavery claim days later, alleging trafficking from Ethiopia in 2023, exploitation in Libya and a gunshot wound to the leg—contradicting earlier denials of abuse.

Barrister Sonali Naik KC, former Liberty chair, argued before Mr Justice Sheldon that return to France risked 'destitution', breaching Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). She cited a 2020 Strasbourg ruling that fined France for denying asylum support.

On 16 September, the judge granted a 14-day injunction, stating: 'It seems to me there is a serious issue... whether the Secretary of State has carried out her investigatory duties lawfully.'

The flight, scheduled for 9:00am on 17 September, departed empty, leaving the claimant in UK detention.

Judges' ECHR Ruling Exposes Labour's Migrant Policy Flaws

The High Court's decision hinges on the Human Rights Act 1998, embedding ECHR protections that Starmer, once a human rights barrister, championed as offering 'enormous potential'. Naik KC warned that ECHR signatory status alone is 'not going to be sufficient' to prevent destitution in France, where 2020 cases deemed conditions 'inhuman and degrading'.

This ruling echoes the 2022 European Court injunction that grounded the Rwanda flight, underscoring judicial sway over deportations. Government officials insist 'France is a safe country' with flights 'imminent', but have refused to disclose scheme details, fuelling accusations of impotence. By September 2025, 31,026 small boat arrivals marked a 38 per cent rise from 2024, with daily costs reaching £8 million.

Reform UK's Matt Goodwin blasted Labour's record on X: 'Not a single migrant has gone out... Labour says it will "deliver" visible change [but] won't even consider leaving the ECHR'. The post reflects growing calls for treaty withdrawal.

Starmer's team is reportedly eyeing 'return hubs' abroad, but without ECHR reform, the pact seems to be in tatters. Public fury is mounting, as echoed in @Shelltop8's post on X: 'High Court BLOCKS migrant's deportation to France in major blow to Keir Starmer's returns deal'. As the Channel crisis deepens, Labour's grip on migration policy faces its most formidable test yet.