UK — A high court judge ruled that the British home secretary's decision to reduce protections for potential trafficking victims to allow the "one in, one out" asylum returns deal to proceed was unlawful.

Mr Justice Sheldon published a judgment on Friday morning finding that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood's decision on the guidance was unlawful. The legal challenge was brought by five small boat asylum seekers earmarked for return to France, four from Eritrea and one from Sudan. All five were given permission by the judge to proceed with their legal claims.

The challenge related to a change in guidance on the "one in, one out" scheme which meant that those denied trafficking protections no longer had the right to ask for it to be reconsidered. Mahmood had amended the trafficking reconsideration guidance in order to expedite returns of some small boat arrivals to France. The judge found that the decision to amend the guidance made a "real difference" in two of the asylum seekers' cases. He found that the decision did not make a difference in two of the other asylum seekers' cases.

The home secretary argued that because France is a signatory to treaties protecting trafficking victims, their cases could be dealt with in France. However, the court heard evidence that victims of trafficking who are not French or were not trafficked in France do not get the same protections in France. Government disclosures during the case stated that officials were aware there could have been problems with accommodating some of the asylum seekers sent back to France due to shortages of places for them to live. Officials were aware before UK prime minister Keir Starmer and French president Emmanuel Macron agreed the "one in, one out" deal on July 10, 2025, that the French government did not afford equal protection to asylum seekers returned from the UK who may have been trafficked in countries such as Libya compared with that given to French trafficking victims or to those who were trafficked inside France.

Mr Justice Sheldon said: "In my judgment such a decision-making process cannot be regarded as robust and effective." Three of the five asylum seekers who challenged the policy were removed to France by the Home Office. Lawyers are calling on the home secretary to bring the three removed asylum seekers back to the UK.

Elizabeth Cole, a solicitor at Duncan Lewis representing two of the asylum seekers, said: "This has had significant consequences: large numbers of vulnerable people have been unlawfully removed to France as a result." Cole added: "We now urge the home secretary to acknowledge her obligations under both the treaty and domestic law, and bring our client, as well as potentially many others who have been unlawfully removed, back to the UK." An asylum seeker represented by Cole said: "I believe that the Home Office had all the evidence in my case, but chose not to consider this." The asylum seeker also said: "In their doing so, they failed to consider my case properly." Emma Ginn, director of the charity Medical Justice, said: "Our clients' medical evidence is disregarded and their trafficking disclosures are treated as an inconvenient impediment to removal."