THE High Court block on an Eritrean man becoming the first to be deported under Labour’s “one-in, one-out” France migrant returns deal shows how the policy denies victims a fair hearing, campaigners said today.

The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was granted interim relief on Tuesday ahead of his scheduled deportation this morning.

His lawyers said that the case “concerns a trafficking claim” and that he alleges that he has a gunshot wound in his leg, is vulnerable and faces a risk of “destitution” in France.

The Home Office argued that it was reasonable to expect the man to claim asylum there. 

Mr Justice Sheldon said: “It seems to me there is a serious issue to be tried with respect to the trafficking claim and whether or not the Secretary of State has carried out her investigatory duties in a lawful manner.”

He said based on the arguments made in court, it did not seem to him that there was a “real risk” the man would “suffer destitution if he was to be returned to France.”

Head of asylum advocacy at Freedom from Torture Sile Reynolds said: “This deal relies on the harmful detention and forced removal of people who have just endured a horrific journey because they have no other way to find protection in the UK.

“Accelerated processing denies people a fair hearing and the chance to evidence their vulnerability, as the High Court’s recent decision to delay the removal of one young survivor of trafficking clearly shows.”

Technology Secretary Liz Kendall today told Times Radio: “This decision is disappointing, but it won’t prevent the rest of that deal going ahead.”