As the court was ruling against the Eritrean man, the UK interior ministry, the Home Office, was actively testing out its new scheme, deporting a man from India to France. The man, who arrived in the UK on a small boat in August, was sent to France on Thursday on a commercial flight.

A British court has blocked the planned removal of an Eritrean asylum seeker to France, handing Prime Minister Keir Starmer an early setback in his plan to stop small-boat crossings of the English Channel.

Observers are warning that changing alliances, disparate geopolitical objectives, ethnic rivalries and maritime ambitions are pushing the Horn of Africa to the precipice of a regional conflict.

A 25-year-old Eritrean asylum seeker won an interim injunction against his removal from the UK to France. London's High Court determined there is a serious issue regarding his trafficking claims. This ruling temporarily halts the UK government's plans under a new pilot scheme aimed at managing asylum arrivals.

The Home Office had said it planned to lodge an appeal against the judge’s decision, with Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood saying she will fight last-minute claims against removals, and that the use of modern slavery legislation to block deportations made a “mockery of our laws”.

Under the deal, the UK can deport irregular migrants in return for accepting migrants from France through a new platform. The High Court ruling comes before the first deportations were due to begin this week.

London's High Court has stopped the removal of an Eritrean asylum seeker to France, challenging the UK's 'one in, one out' migrant scheme. This decision thwarts efforts by Prime Minister Keir Starmer amid rising political pressures and challenges from anti-immigrant factions.

How one young Eritrean may have driven a small boat through Starmer’s ‘one in, one out’ policy - COMMENT: His legal appeal against being deported could sink the government's flagship immigration initiative,

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