The first scheduled flight to take refugees to Rwanda on Tuesday could be canceled due to a late burst of individual legal challenges, government sources said.
While Home Office lawyers are fighting two legal challenges from activists and charities on Monday, Interior Ministry officials have admitted that the plane could not take off due to the challenges of lawyers working on behalf of refugees. who have been told that they will be sent east. African country.
The development comes after a coalition of two refugee charities, Detention Action and Care4Calais, and the PCS union, which represents Border Force personnel, received a leave of absence on Friday to appeal against the rejection of their order. court Monday morning. The charity Asylum Aid, backed by Freedom from Torture, will make another attempt to stop the high court flight in the afternoon.
Although 130 people who had come to the UK were reportedly given “removal instructions”, government sources said the number of people who could board the plane in Rwanda was declining.
“I think it could be canceled,” a government source said. “This is due to individual cases rather than a general challenge.”
Lawyers acting on behalf of those destined for disposal are said to have filed legal appeals over the weekend or warned they would do so on Monday or Tuesday. Many are doing so under human rights law or modern slavery law.
An Iranian human rights activist – who was told last week that he would be transferred to the East African country – although he fled to the United Kingdom after giving first-hand testimony of possible government violations Iranian – is one of those who received a letter this weekend saying he will not be sent to Rwanda.
The man, whose situation was first highlighted in the Guardian, received a letter from the Interior Ministry, which was signed on Sunday, saying he would not be fired on Tuesday, but said he continued to fear a another attempt at deportation.
“I’m still very stressed about what will happen next,” he said.
It is understood that a Spanish airline has agreed to carry out the expulsion flight on behalf of the Ministry of the Interior. According to Civil Aviation Authority records, Privilege Style has been granted permission to fly to the Rwandan capital Kigali on Tuesday at 9.30pm from Stansted Airport in Essex.
Care4Calais said on Monday that only 10 refugees who would be on the first flight out of the UK had received from the Home Office that it would still be so.
The Court of Appeal will rule on whether all flights should remain on the ground until a judicial review of Rwanda’s asylum policy is heard next month.
Home Secretary Priti Patel has argued that the relocation policy will help stop the growing number of people crossing the Channel in small boats to find refuge in the UK.
Questions remain about the status of those who have been threatened with deportation.
The Guardian understands that three children of disputed age have now been released and that the Interior Ministry declared them adults and detained in preparation for being transferred to Rwanda. It is understood that concerns have been raised as to whether at least three detainees most threatened with transfer to the East African country are children and not adults.
Sign up for First Edition, our free daily newsletter, every weekday morning at 7:00 BST
The Refugee Council said many of the people who were initially scheduled to go on Tuesday’s flight were children. The British Dental Association said it did not recognize the Home Office’s technique of using dental check-ups to determine a person’s age.
Boris Johnson defended Rwanda’s plan despite widespread criticism from the Prince of Wales, who described it as “creepy” this weekend.
The Prime Minister insisted that the plan was aimed at breaking the business model of human trafficking gangs.
When asked if Charles was wrong, Johnson told LBC Radio, “What I don’t think we should support is the continuity of criminal gang activity.”
In an article for the Telegraph, Rwandan High Commissioner Johnston Busingye insisted the country would be a “safe haven”.
Busingye said he was disappointed that critics had questioned Rwanda’s reasons for accepting the plan and questioned its ability to provide a safe haven for vulnerable asylum seekers.