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The first Channel migrant has been deported to France under the controversial one in, one out deal, the Home Office has confirmed.It follows three days of cancellations of tickets of asylum seekers due to fly and a high court challenge that halted the imminent removal of a 25-year-old Eritrean man to France on Tuesday evening. He was granted more time to gather evidence relating to his claim that he is a victim of trafficking.The home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said: “This is an important first step to securing our borders. It sends a message to people crossing in small boats: if you enter the UK illegally, we will seek to remove you.“I will continue to challenge any last-minute, vexatious attempts to frustrate a removal in the courts. The UK will always play its part in helping those genuinely fleeing persecution, but this must be done through safe, legal, and managed routes – not dangerous crossings.”The UK-France treaty, which came into force on 6 August, allows the UK to detain and rapidly remove people who enter via small boats. In return, the UK will accept an equal number of migrants through a newly established safe and legal route – subject to security checks.The Home Office said: “Today we will lodge an appeal to the court of appeal to limit the time the person has to provide evidence for reconsideration.”According to the Telegraph, the man removed on Thursday morning is from India and is believed to have been flown into Paris on an Air France flight. It is reported that he had threatened a legal challenge to his removal but this did not halt the removal.Unlike countries such as Eritrea, Sudan and Syria, where many people arriving on small boats come from, which have high asylum grant rates, asylum claims by Indians have a much lower grant rate.The man is the first of about 100 Channel migrants detained by Border Force at the start of last month to have been sent back to France.For the first three days of this week everyone due to fly had their tickets cancelled, in many cases due to legal challenges.skip past newsletter promotionGet the day’s headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morningPrivacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.after newsletter promotionIt is understood, according to the Telegraph, that the French requested an Indian migrant as it means they will offer him voluntary return to his homeland, where the government pays the air fare and offers €2,500.If the man does not accept voluntary return, he will face forced removal from France.According to a leaflet given to detainees for France by the Home Office, accommodation in France will be offered “for the first days of your arrival. Options offered to new arrivals include financial assistance if you choose to return to your country of origin”.
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