A human rights solicitor has dismissed Labour's new migration agreement with France as "pointless" during an appearance on GB News.
Shoaib Khan told presenter Martin Daubney that the recently implemented "one in, one out" arrangement would achieve minimal results in addressing Channel crossings.
The one in, one out agreement with France became operational yesterday and has been described as "ground breaking" but it contains numerous provisions that could prevent deportations from proceeding.
GB NEWS
|Shoaib Khan said it is "business as usual "
According to the published treaty, individuals cannot be removed if they have lodged human rights applications, claimed to be minors, or secured court injunctions against their transfer.
Speaking to GB News, Shoaib Khan said: "I don’t see how it makes any difference. I think it was on GB News just three days ago where I was asked, 'Do you think it’s going to work?' And I said, even if it does work what difference does it make?
"Basically, 700 people arrive every week. And even under this plan, we're only sending 50 back.
"So I’m not sure what that achieves. If the whole point is that it’s a deterrent how much of a deterrent is it, really?
"You're telling someone who has spent thousands of pounds and planned this journey for months that there’s a 95 per cent chance they’ll succeed and only a 5 per cent chance they won’t. How is that a deterrent?
"I mean, it’s just the Rwanda plan all over again. One of the most expensive vacations anyone ever took. We spent almost £1 billion for three Home Secretaries to spend a few days in Rwanda. It’s just that, all over again. I don’t see what difference this is going to make."
GB News host Martin Daubney agreed: "I find that astonishing. I find that telling. It’s simply business as usual, as far as you’re concerned as toothless as an old folks' home."
The lawyer added: "The point seems to be that we give France another few hundred million pounds. That’s what we’ve been doing for 15 years. I have no idea what the actual aim is here other than the fact that we’ve now got rid of Rwanda.
"So Yvette Cooper had to come up with something, and this is it. Something to respond to the pressure, while people keep arriving. Nigel Farage and GB News keep standing on the cliffs of Dover filming them coming in and this is the political response.
"But I don’t think it’s going to make a difference. I mean does anyone genuinely believe it will? Cabinet ministers, maybe."
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Labour's one in one out deal begins today
The document specifies that Britain must verify "at the time of their transfer that person will not have an outstanding human rights claim" before any removal can occur.
Additionally, anyone asserting they are an unaccompanied minor will avoid deportation, despite documented instances of asylum seekers falsely claiming to be under eighteen in recent years.
The arrangement permits both nations to suspend operations with merely seven days' notice, whilst complete termination requires only thirty days' warning.
Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp has condemned the arrangement, warning that legal representatives would "ruthlessly exploit" provisions within the treaty to prevent returns.