The first group of migrants and asylum-seekers, who will be transferred from the UK, is expected to arrive in Kigali, Rwanda, on Tuesday after a British court refused appeals to stop the move.
Last week the high court ruled in favour of the UK government’s stance to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda.
On Monday, the court rejected an appeal to stop the deportation flight from taking off.
Protesters – among them human rights groups and charity workers – had gathered outside the court to push back against the move to send asylum seekers to the landlocked central African country.
Some have described the plan as “ugly” and the UN says it is “wrong”.
Needless to say, appeal court judges said the government’s first flight to Rwanda planned for Tuesday can go ahead.
However, many of the affected asylum-seekers who are presently in detention have launched individual legal challenges against being sent to Rwanda.
The BBC is reporting that its sources say only eight people are expected to be on Tuesday’s flight to Rwanda.
The UK government says the scheme will discourage dangerous sea journeys run by smuggling gangs across the English Channel.
“The charity Detention Action and the PCS union that represents some Border Force staff, who were among the groups who brought the case, said they were “disappointed” by the decision,” reported the BBC.
The New Times, Rwanda’s leading daily, said the first group of migrants and asylum seekers was expected to arrive in Kigali on Tuesday, June 14.
In an interview with BBC Radio 4, Rwanda government spokesperson, Yolande Makolo, described Rwanda as a very welcoming society, saying that Rwandans have been in similar predicament.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government announced in April that it would send some asylum seekers to Rwanda for an initial payment of 120 million pounds, or about $157 million.
