Only one week after the Rwanda Bill became law, the UK has already begun detaining migrants who will be deported to Rwanda.
According to the government body, flights are planned to take migrants within the next 9 to 11 weeks. Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “Our dedicated enforcement teams are working at pace to swiftly detain those who have no right to be here so we can get flights off the ground.”
“The Home Office has increased detention capacity to more than 2,200 detention spaces, and has 500 highly trained escorts ready,” the government website reads. In addition, “commercial charters have also been booked and an airport has been put on standby.”
Under the new Bill, asylum seekers and refugees arriving by irregular means, such as small boats, will be deported to Rwanda to await their status processing. Even if the migrants are granted refugee status they will be prohibited from entering the UK.
Leader of the Conservative Party, Rishi Sunak, hopes the Bill will deter irregular migration and reduce deaths at sea. However, human rights groups and the United Nations refugee agency UNHCR have denounced the Bill saying it is: “Incompatible with the letter and spirit of the 1951 Refugee Convention.” The Convention that UNHCR referred to states asylum-seeking is a fundamental human right.
Despite the kickback, the UK Home Office insists that: “Rwanda has proven time and again its ability to offer asylum seekers a chance to build new and prosperous lives with accommodation, education, training and employment.”
Since the start of the year over 7,500 migrants have arrived in England by irregular means from France. In the last week, there were 5 recorded deaths in an attempt to make the crossing, Reuters reported.