The UK Home Office has confirmed that the first group of migrants will this week be informed of the Government’s intention to relocate them to Rwanda. Migrants who crossed the Channel will be among those to be notified by the Home Office that they face a one-way ticket to the East African nation.
The department added that the Government “has the power to detain individuals pending their removal from the UK”. First flights are expected to take place in the coming months, the Home Office said, adding that lawyers for some of those affected will likely lodge claims to stop removal.
Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Britain’s asylum system is broken as criminals exploit and smuggle people into our country at huge costs to UK taxpayers. The world-leading migration partnership with Rwanda means those making dangerous, unnecessary and illegal journeys to the UK may be relocated to Rwanda to have their claims for asylum considered and to rebuild their lives there, helping break the people smugglers’ business model and prevent loss of life.
“This is just the first stage of the process and we know it will take time as some will seek to frustrate the process and delay removals. I will not be deterred from acting to deliver on the changes the British people voted for to take back control of our money, laws and borders.”
In April, the Government announced the new immigration policy which will see asylum seekers who cross the Channel in small boats sent for processing to Rwanda, where they will have the right to apply to live. Following the £120 million economic deal being struck, cash for each removal is expected to follow.
The agreement has been criticised by senior Tories, Labour and church figures including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby. Conservative former prime minister Theresa May has questioned the “legality, practicality and efficacy” of the plan, and Mr Welby described it as “the opposite of the nature of God”.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme the plan was unethical, unworkable and costly.
He added: “I also can’t help feeling, I’m afraid, that there is a bit of distraction tactics in this to stop everybody talking about the wrongdoing of the Prime Minister and the cost-of-living crisis.”
