Migrants in Calais have vowed to cross the Channel “again and again”, saying “Britain can’t deport me”, as Keir Starmer’s ‘one in, one out’ deal with France faces a wave of legal challenges. The Telegraph has the story.
Asylum seekers told the Telegraph on Thursday that if deported back to France, they would return to Britain “again and again”.
Buoyed by successful challenges from would-be deportees, several migrants said they were confident they could avoid being removed once they crossed the Channel by following legal advice given to them by British charities working in Calais.
Shabana Mahmood, the Home Secretary, has accused migrants detained under the scheme of “making a mockery” of Britain’s laws and generosity by making “vexatious last-minute claims” of human trafficking and modern slavery.
She has now blocked migrants from challenging Home Office decisions about their claims in an attempt to speed up deportations.
The migrants waiting in Calais appear not to care. Speaking outside his flimsy, brightly coloured tent on a disused dock, Ahmed Mustapha, 30, scoffed at Ms Mahmood’s chances of deporting him once he crosses the Channel.
“She’s just talking,” the Syrian father-of-three said. “They say the same things again and again, but it doesn’t change anything. I don’t care what she says. They can’t deport me. I will talk to a lawyer and try to cross again and again. I control myself.”
Christophe Gosselin, 68, a volunteer for migrant charity Salam, spoke as he was giving out pastries, bread rolls, melon, bananas, tea and coffee to migrants in a car park.
He insisted the ‘one in, one out’ deal would not end Channel crossings.
“The problem is the English dream,” he said. “For migrants, England is the dream. They assume it’s no problem to work there and you get the good life.”
The deal signed by Sir Keir and Emmanuel Macron, the French President, is intended to see France accept one small boat migrant from Britain in exchange for one who has a strong asylum case.
On Thursday, Sir Keir welcomed the first successful deportation under the scheme, saying “we need to ramp it up” as Donald Trump told him to deploy “the military” to tackle Channel crossings.
Other migrants also dismissed Sir Keir’s claims that the deportation deal was a deterrent, saying that even if detained, they would turn to legal advice given to them by the British charity Care4Calais.
A document (pictured below) written by the charity in Arabic has been distributed to migrants in Calais, providing them with “important contacts” in case they are detained for deportation.
“The UK and French Governments have launched a pilot scheme to allow a limited number of people to apply to enter the UK,” it reads. “However, for every person allowed into the UK, an equivalent person will be returned to France.
“This means that some people may be detained upon entering the UK, and the UK Government will attempt to return them to France. If you are detained, it is important that you seek legal advice.”
The leaflet then lists the contact details of Care4Calais, as well as five other migrant charities: Detention Action, the Jesuit Refugee Service, Beyond Detention, Humans for Rights Network and Gatwick Detainees Welfare Group.
Lord Hermer has a long history of working for BiD as a barrister and is first known to have represented the charity in court in 2005.
He ended his relationship with BiD before joining the Government when Sir Keir took office last year.
In an annual report published in 2019, BiD offered its thanks to all the barristers who had “volunteered their time pro bono to represent our clients in court”.
That year, the charity said it had provided 121 people with advice or representation and had launched seven full deportation appeals, three of which were successful.
Lord Hermer was one of only two King’s Counsels on the list of volunteers at the time, making him one of the most senior lawyers to work for the charity for free.
He has been criticised over alleged conflicts of interest linked to his previous human rights work, including representing Gerry Adams against IRA bomb victims in a High Court case that is due to go to trial next year.
BiD is a human rights and legal advisory charity founded in 1999 and is backed by Left-wing foundations and philanthropists.
It helps migrants access a range of support services and worked with the Home Office under the previous government, although this relationship has now ended.
In August, it published a “legal guide for people in detention facing removal to France”.
The 12-page document encourages migrants who have been told by the Home Office that they are to be sent back to France to “act quickly”, to “get a lawyer” and to “consider any high court action” to fight their removal.
Chris Philp, the shadow home secretary, called for Lord Hermer to be sacked immediately.
He said: “As a barrister, he did not have to work for free on these cases, he chose to.
“Just like Starmer, he clearly cares more about keeping illegal immigrants and foreign criminals in the UK than he cares about protecting our borders or the British public.
“No wonder this weak government is presiding over collapsing borders when its chief lawyer does not appear to believe in borders in the first place. Starmer should sack him immediately.”
[…]
Also on the list was Greg Ó Ceallaigh KC, now a judge who presides over deportation appeals by asylum seekers.
In April this year, it was reported that before becoming a judge, he had reposted calls to decriminalise illegal migration to the UK.
He also said the Conservative Party should be “dealt with as you would deal with the Nazis”.
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