A group of charities focused on supporting asylum seekers have stated their intention to launch legal challenges as soon as possible, should a new law pass which would enable the UK government to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. Legislation to formally declare Rwanda as a safe country from which to return failed asylum seekers is expected to pass its final parliamentary reading later this week, with Downing Street hopeful of the first flights taking off before the end of spring. Charities including Care4Calais were responsible for preventing similar removals taking place last year and have reportedly recruited hundreds of volunteers to offer legal support to those set to be returned to Rwanda.
The Rwandan scheme, which was first proposed by Boris Johnson in April 2022, has been subject to a series of challenges and has so far seen no asylum seekers returned to the country. The UK government believes that returning some rejected asylum seekers to Rwanda will help deter others from attempting to cross the English Channel by small boat, with other countries potentially following suit if the Rwandan partnership is successful. However, the Labour party has vowed to scrap the scheme should it win power, claiming it is too expensive and unworkable.
While it is possible that legal challenges against the removals could delay the first flights, sources suggest that it is highly likely that some will take off. However, the challenge for the government will be whether enough people are returned to make an impact on the number of small boats crossing the Channel, which has been a key topic of political debate and a focus of government action in recent years
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More