23 October 2023 , 09:31
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February 24 has been earmarked for the first migrant deportation flight to Rwanda, it was claimed today.
The date has been pencilled in for when a plane carrying migrants will depart the UK for the capital Kigali. However, the controversial sortie depends on Britain’s top judges backing the Government’s flagship plan to send asylum seekers to the east African nation.
Sixteen months ago, a chartered Boeing 767 was being loaded with would-be refugees on the apron at a military airfield at Boscombe Down, Wilts, ready for take off for Rwanda. But the flight was grounded at the last minute when a European judge ruled the plane could not depart.
Campaigners and charities waged a bitter legal battle to thwart the deportation policy, which is a key plank of the Tories’ bid to cut the number of migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel in small boats. A decision from the Supreme Court is due by mid-December.
But while judges mull their ruling, civil servants have been ordered to plan for a first departure on February 24, according to the Daily Mail. The £140million Rwanda deal sets out how some migrants will be sent to Kigali to claim asylum there rather than in the UK. Supporters of the controversial plan hope it will help deter people from making the perilous journey across the Strait of Dover.
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This year 26,168 migrants have arrived in 552 small boats after the dangerous voyages - 30% fewer than the 37,603 who had crossed by this time last year. A record 45,756 completed the journey in 2022, compared with 28,526 in 2021 and 8,404 in 2020.
Immigration Minister Robert Jenrick said the Government was making progress. “We are working round the clock to reduce the amount of illegal migration, and our plan is beginning to work,” he told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips: "We have seen a substantial reduction in the number of small boat crossings this year versus last year. I don't pretend that that is enough, but it does show that the plan that we put in place a year ago is beginning to work."
He added: "I'm not pretending that we have succeeded, this is ‘job done’; I'm saying that our plan is beginning to work." Mr Jenrick admitted that was “clearly a long way to go”, saying: “Much will depend on the Supreme Court's judgement with respect to our Rwanda policy.. But we are making progress."