Home Office tightens slavery review guidance for France removals

The Home Office has quietly tightened guidance on modern slavery reviews so that some asylum seekers facing removal to France under the new one in, one out agreement will no longer be able to seek an internal review of negative trafficking decisions from inside the United Kingdom, the department said, after a High Court ruling briefly halted the deportation of an Eritrean asylum seeker. The change, announced overnight, applies where the secretary of state intends to remove someone to a country that is a signatory to the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings and the European Convention on Human Rights.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has ordered a rapid review of modern slavery laws, the department added, as the government presses ahead with the pilot return scheme with France. Mahmood said the first removal under the deal was an important first step to securing the border and sent a message that people who enter the UK illegally will be returned. A Home Office spokesperson said the updated policy is intended to prevent "vexatious, last-minute claims" and to stop irregular migrants from misusing the system while ensuring protections for those...