No migrant return flights to France on Tuesday

No migrant return flights will take place on Tuesday under the new pilot scheme agreed between the UK and France, the BBC has learned.

The first returns of migrants who reached the UK on small boats via the English Channel from France were expected to begin from as early as Tuesday.

Downing Street has insisted that the removals will begin "imminently" - although initial plans for a flight to Paris today were put back.

On Tuesday, a 25-year-old Eritrean man who arrived on a small boat in August launched a last-minute legal claim at the High Court to stop his removal on a 9am flight to France on Wednesday.

The 'one in, one out' scheme was set up as part of a deal announced by Prime Minister Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron in July this year. Dozens of migrants have been detained since.

On Tuesday, No 10 said the government was "confident in the legal basis for this pilot" and is "prepared to respond to any legal scrutiny that occurs".

Over the last fortnight, some migrants being held in immigration removal centres, having crossed the Channel in dinghies, were told they could be returned to France as early as Tuesday.

Some individuals received letters that said they would be put on a scheduled Air France flight departing from Heathrow Airport for Paris at 9am this morning.

However, a number of sources told the BBC that some of the potential passengers had been told their departure would be deferred as further representations about their cases were made.

It is not unusual for immigration removals to be delayed if officials are warned by lawyers that the individual has not had a full or fair opportunity to present their case.

On Tuesday, the first legal challenge against the 'one in one out' agreement was launched in the High Court in London, where lawyers argued against the removal of their unnamed Eritrean client.

Sonali Naik KC said a decision was pending under the national referral mechanism decision - which identifies and assesses victims of slavery and human trafficking.

Under the new treaty, France agreed to take back adults or accompanied children who make a journey to the UK by small boat, once any asylum claim is withdrawn or declared inadmissible.

For each person sent back to France, the UK will accept someone with a case for protection as a refugee, who has not tried to cross the English Channel and can pass security and eligibility criteria.

The BBC understands that migrants living in the Calais region who have applied to the scheme have been rejected - but asylum seekers in the Paris region have been accepted.

The government has not confirmed how many people a week will be returned or relocated under the scheme, but former home secretary Yvette Cooper stressed that it was operating on a trial basis.

Other factors that may have played a part in the delay include whether France is ready to receive returnees, and on the UK side, the state of security checks of any potential genuine refugees.

The Home Office began detaining some small boat migrants on 6 August on the basis that they were ineligible for asylum because they had spent time in a safe third country.

Under the scheme, officials in London refer each potential return case to French officials. The French authorities then have two weeks to respond - before beginning the process of proposing who should come to the UK in their place.

The scheme is one of a number of measures unveiled by the government which aim to tackle small boat crossings.

However, the Conservatives have argued it will not see enough migrants deported to act as a significant deterrent.

Ministers have not put a figure on how many people will be returned to France under the pilot.

More than 30,000 people have crossed the Channel in small boats so far this year.

It is the earliest point in a calendar year this figure has been passed since data on crossings was first reported in 2018.