Britain’s first scheduled flight taking asylum seekers to Rwanda was due to depart on Tuesday, with the government warning anyone who avoided it through last-minute legal challenges would be put on a later flight despite the outcry from critics.
Britain has struck a 120-million-pound ($148 million) deal with Rwanda to send some migrants, who had arrived illegally by crossing the Channel in small boats from Europe, to live in the landlocked African country.
The plan has horrified political opponents, charities and religious leaders who say it is inhumane. The United Nations’ refugee chief called it “catastrophic”, the entire leadership of the Church of England denounced it as an “immoral policy that shames Britain” and media reports have said Prince Charles has privately described the plan as “appalling”.
The government says the deportation strategy is needed to stem the flow of migrants risking their lives in Channel crossings and smash the people-smuggling networks.
A government official, who asked not to be named, said there was the possibility individual legal challenges might mean the private plane the government has chartered leaves on Tuesday evening with no asylum seekers on it.
The courts have thrown out last-ditch bids by human rights groups and campaigners to halt the flight, but London’s High Court is hearing further cases before it departs.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the legal bids were undermining the government’s attempts to support safe and legal routes to come to Britain.
“We are not going to be in any way deterred or abashed by some of the criticism that has been directed upon this policy, some of it from slightly unexpected quarters, we are going to get on deliver,” he told his cabinet ministers.
