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A higher judge in a higher court stopped a charter flight hours before up to 20 asylum seekers who crossed the English Channel into the UK in small boats were forcibly transferred to Spain, a country they had previously passed through. .
The judge, Sir Duncan Ouseley, ordered the flight to be suspended due to concerns that asylum seekers who were to fly could be left stranded on the streets of Madrid, as happened with another group earlier this month.
It is believed to be only the second time that an entire Home Office charter flight has been suspended by a higher court action.
Under the regulations known as Dublin III, a European country can return asylum seekers to another that they have previously passed through if there is evidence of this in the form of fingerprints or other proof.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has pledged to eliminate 1,000 small boat arrivals by the end of the year, when the UK completes its exit from the EU. Wednesday’s high court decision will be a setback for her plan.
The legal challenge on behalf of five asylum seekers, four from Yemen and one from Syria, was launched last week after The Guardian revealed that 11 Syrian asylum seekers who arrived in the UK in small boats and were flown to Spain because fingerprints were taken in that country was told to leave the Madrid airport. They were not given the opportunity to submit their asylum applications upon arrival in Spain. They were left in the streets without food, water or shelter in temperatures of 32 ° C.
The charter flight that was the subject of the legal challenge, with up to 20 asylum seekers on board, was due to leave the UK at 7.45am on Thursday.
Chris Buttler, the lawyer for the five asylum seekers, who filed the legal challenge, told the court that the asylum seekers the Interior Ministry wanted to transfer to Spain on Thursday were at risk of “being left homeless indefinitely on the street.” .
Lawyers for the five men commissioned a report from Amnesty International in Spain, which stated that the return of asylum seekers under Dublin regulations would carry the risk of them being left destitute and homeless.
Two of the five asylum seekers who filed the legal challenge had their removal direction deferred prior to the hearing based on the circumstances of their individual cases.
The five asylum seekers are victims of torture and post-traumatic stress disorder and are at risk of serious self-harm, according to medical and psychological expert reports. One was shot in Yemen and parts of his stomach were removed.
Russell Fortt, a lawyer for the Home Secretary, told the court that the Home Office had made inquiries about the reception arrangements for asylum seekers with the Spanish authorities.
“Now guarantees have been requested and given,” he said. “It is enough to assure that this time [the Spanish authorities] they have given the commitment. “
He added that the psychiatric needs of the three asylum seekers who faced expulsion could be adequately addressed in Spain.
The court heard that the Secretary of the Interior sent an email to the Spanish authorities at 11:42 on Wednesday and received a general guarantee from the Spanish authorities at 11:52, eight minutes before the noon deadline to receive a response.
Ouseley said he was stopping the charter flight so a hearing could be arranged to investigate reception arrangements for asylum seekers sent to Spain from the UK in more detail. He asked that this hearing be organized as soon as possible.
A spokesman for Duncan Lewis’ attorneys, who filed the legal challenge, welcomed the decision. The spokesman said: “We hope that the Interior Ministry will make this decision of the high court and carefully consider its policy of expulsion to Spain.
The Interior Ministry has been contacted for comment.
