The foreign minister said Rwanda’s flight policy was “completely moral” after criticism of the policy from the entire top leadership of the Church of England.
Liz Truss said the first flight to take asylum seekers to Rwanda would take off on Tuesday afternoon with few people on board, saying the important point was the principle.
In a letter to the Times, the archbishops of Canterbury and York, as well as the other 24 bishops sitting as spiritual lords in the House of Lords, said politics “should embarrass us as a nation”.
It says, “Shame is our own, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, justice, and fairness, as we have done for centuries.
The Bishop of Chelmsford, Guli Francis-Dekani, who came to the UK as an asylum seeker in 1980, said people who were traumatized and risked their lives to switch to small boats should “at least have human dignity to have their cases under consideration ”.
“Without their consent, taking them on a flight to another country 4,000 miles away does not mean treating them with the human dignity that each of us deserves,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today program.
“And I’m also not sure that there is evidence to prove that it has worked in the past, the whole hostile environmental policy of previous years.
Asked about criticism from senior bishops, Truss told Sky News: “I do not agree with that. The people who are immoral in this case are the traffickers of people who trade in human misery. These people need to propose an alternative policy that will work. Our policy is perfectly legal; it is completely moral.
“What I say to policy critics who have no alternative on how to deal with this illegal migration is that they have no alternative, they criticize our policy, which is effective and works.”
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The quake said the most important moment would be to establish the principle that people can be flown to Rwanda. A significant number of asylum seekers who have been told they will be taken on board have had their tickets revoked following successful appeals, including citing evidence of torture.
“The really important thing is that we establish the principle and start disrupting the business model of these horrific human traffickers who trade in misery,” Truss said. “That’s why we’re pursuing this policy, and that’s why it’s important to launch today.”
Asked if there could be anyone on this flight, she said: “There will be people on the flight and if they are not on this flight, they will be on the next flight … I don’t have a number. The important point is the principle. “
The policy provoked widespread condemnation beyond the Church of England, where the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, said he “could not stand God’s judgment”. Prince Charles reportedly described the plan in private as “terrifying”.
Care4Calais, one of the charities that filed the failed motion to suspend the flight, said only seven migrants waiting to be removed still have live tickets.
Three additional appeals from persons facing removal are expected to be heard in the Supreme Court.
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