Ministers have dropped plans to send the first asylum seekers to Rwanda this month, as promised, sparking accusations that they are blaming legal challenges instead of acknowledging that the idea is “unfeasible”.
When the multi-million pound deal was announced last month, Boris Johnson said the first flights would take up to “weeks” – but his spokesman on Tuesday said it would now be “a matter of months”.
No. 10 blamed the legal challenges against the policy, but also insisted that the lawsuit would not leave the controversial project “pending”.
Charities and lawyers said the delay shows that ministers have accepted that the challenges in implementing the policy are “much bigger than they expected” and that it is now likely that it could “easily fall apart” as logistics “It just wasn’t thought out.”
Meanwhile, a source in the Interior Ministry believes that the government “actually wants” legal challenges so that ministers can “express their disappointment at being blocked by the courts and demand more power over court decisions.”
The source told The Independent that the current policy “will be difficult” to implement, but added: “I do not think the idea will be abandoned politically, but I guess it will be included in the next election manifesto.”
Experts have questioned Mr Johnson’s claim that the scheme – which he said tens of thousands of people will be deported there after arriving in the UK through irregular means – could start almost immediately, with some doubting whether refugees will be sent to Rwanda.
A spokesman for the prime minister acknowledged that the judicial action was not “unexpected” and described it as just “one of the variables” affecting hopes for the scheme.
“We are working to move the first flights – I do not know for sure what the deadline will be,” he added.
An analysis by the Refugee Council last month found that less than 200 asylum seekers would be deported to the East African country under existing immigration rules, calling into question the prime minister’s claims.
Enver Solomon, the charity’s chief executive, said: “The government’s desire to treat people as a human burden and expel them to Rwanda is not only appalling and unprincipled, but also unfeasible.
“Now the government seems to accept that the challenges of making it a reality are much bigger than it expected. It is likely to unravel easily now and certainly never be on the scale that the prime minister said it could be. “
Sonya Sceats, CEO of Freedom from Torture, a charity that poses one of the legal challenges, said: “It is clear that ministers are hiding behind lawsuits instead of acknowledging that this inhumane plan is unfeasible.
“Critical operational considerations have simply not been considered, including the risks of sharing sensitive refugee data with a repressive state known to be torturing.
Liberal Democrat spokesman Alistair Carmichael said the “brutal” plan was “quickly becoming another costly mess”, adding: “It does not stop people from crossing the English Channel and is already mired in predictable delays.
“Everything the Conservatives have done has only made this problem worse. It is time to realize that the best way to prevent the passage and fight smuggling and trafficking gangs is to provide safe and legal routes to the refugee shelter.
Some 550 people have crossed from France in small boats in the last two days after an 11-day break, questioning claims by some Conservative lawmakers that the Rwanda threat is already a deterrent.
The government says there are already legal powers that allow asylum seekers to be sent to Rwanda, but critics say it violates both the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the Geneva Convention.
Tuffik Hossein, director of public law at Duncan Lewis, who represents the civil servants’ union (Union of Public and Commercial Services) and two charities in a lawsuit against politics, said the delay “may suggest the interior minister is finally has worked what most people already know – the plans are unfeasible, illegal and a huge loss of taxpayers’ money.
Immigration lawyer Alasder Mackenzie reiterated his remarks, saying: “Legal challenges will undoubtedly – and rightly so – occur, but they would be a convenient smokescreen for the fact that the practical mechanisms of the Rwanda plan – who meets the conditions where he will live , how do you stop them from coming back, etc. – obviously not considered. “
A spokesman for the Home Office said: “This world-leading migration partnership will review our broken asylum system, which currently costs UK taxpayers £ 1.5 billion a year – the highest amount in two decades.
“This means that those who arrive dangerously, illegally or unnecessarily can be relocated to have their asylum applications processed and, if recognized as refugees, to build their lives there.
“Our new partnership for migration and economic development with Rwanda is in full compliance with international and national law. We will firmly defend any legal challenge. ”
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