Britain intends to begin deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda on 24 July, a government lawyer said on Monday, Reuters has reported. Sending asylum seekers to Rwanda if they have arrived in Britain without permission is one of Sunak’s flagship policies. The prime minister has said that the deportation flights will not leave before the 4 July election, but has promised that if he wins they will begin soon after. The opposition Labour Party, meanwhile, is leading by about 20 points in opinion polls, and has pledged to scrap the plan if elected. In documents submitted to the High Court in London as

Britain intends to begin deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda on 24 July, a government lawyer said on Monday, Reuters has reported.

Sending asylum seekers to Rwanda if they have arrived in Britain without permission is one of Sunak’s flagship policies.

The prime minister has said that the deportation flights will not leave before the 4 July election, but has promised that if he wins they will begin soon after. The opposition Labour Party, meanwhile, is leading by about 20 points in opinion polls, and has pledged to scrap the plan if elected.

In documents submitted to the High Court in London as part of a challenge to the policy by charity Asylum Aid, government lawyers said that the intention was “to effect removals with a flight to Rwanda on 23 July 2024 (and not before).” However, government lawyer Edward Brown later told the court that an “operational update” from the Home Office said that the first flight would, in fact, leave on 24 July.

In April 2022, Rwanda and United Kingdom signed a deal to facilitate the dispatch of some migrants who arrive in the UK across the English Channel to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be processed.

The Rwanda/UK Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP) is a bold new approach to deter the dangerous migration journeys causing untold suffering while addressing the global imbalance of economic opportunity, which is the underlying cause of mass irregular migration.

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