Second migrant deported to France under UK’s “one in, one out” deal
A second migrant’s deportation flight has departed the UK for France under the "one in, one out" deal after losing a High Court bid to have his removal temporarily blocked, the Home Office said.
An Eritrean man was on a flight that left Heathrow for Paris at 6:15 am on Friday, the Home Office confirmed.
This comes as hundreds of migrants have attempted to cross the Channel as the deportation took place.
At least one inflatable dinghy full of young men made its way out to sea from Gravelines beach, northeast of Calais, at daybreak on Friday.
As the boat came close to shore, people waded through waist-high water towards it, and a child was passed aboard before it went out to sea.
In the town itself, at about 5:30 am, a group of 40 young men suddenly appeared from a quiet side street carrying an inflatable boat over their heads before launching it into a canal.
Police officers watched from the bank as the driver of the boat struggled to keep it in a straight line.
Earlier in the night, a group of men formed a human chain to help haul people out of the mud after a failed attempt to launch a boat in the canal.
Donald Trump suggested Sir Keir Starmer should involve the military in tackling the small boats crisis, warning illegal migration could "destroy" countries.
The US president said he had discussed the situation with Sir Keir at the Prime Minister’s country residence, Chequers.
He highlighted his own record in securing the borders in the US and suggested the UK faced a similar challenge.
Setting out his own actions in the US, Mr. Trump said: "What I saw happening, with millions of people pouring into our country, I couldn’t stand to watch it, and we’ve done a great job."
He said: "The last three months we had zero – from millions of people a year ago, we had zero people enter our country illegally."
Speaking alongside Sir Keir, he said: "I think your situation is very similar. You have people coming in and I told the Prime Minister I would stop it, and it doesn’t matter if you call out the military, it doesn’t matter what means you use.
"It destroys countries from within and we’re actually now removing a lot of the people that came into our country."
Sir Keir pointed to action including the first return under the one in, one out deal with France, which took place on Thursday morning, just hours before the Prime Minister’s talks with Mr. Trump.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the first return showed people crossing the Channel that "if you enter the UK illegally, we will seek to remove you."
She said she would "continue to challenge any last-minute, vexatious attempts to frustrate a removal in the courts."
The returns agreement had faced growing scrutiny after reports of flights for removals being canceled earlier this week.
Technology & Business Editor
Read more similar news:
Comments:
comments powered by Disqus
