Asylum seekers who are to be transferred to Rwanda under the Secretary of the Interior’s relocation plan could be released and labeled if a legal challenge causes their flight to be postponed.
Interior Ministry staff are aware that they cannot detain people indefinitely if they are not sent to the East African country on the first scheduled flight.
An emergency hearing of the High Court challenging Priti Patel’s policy will be held on Friday at 10:30 a.m. It will determine if the first flight can take place on Tuesday as planned.
Government sources confirmed that there was a “healthy chance” that Friday’s challenge would be successful, causing the chartered flight to be postponed. If that happens, it is understood that officials are ready to release and label the detainees today.
The decisions would be taken after taking into account the principles of Hardial Singh, which refer to a legal precedent that sets limits on the detention powers of immigrants of the Ministry of Interior.
Friday’s hearing comes after a judicial review was initiated on Wednesday by the Union of Public and Commercial Services (PCS), the charity Care4Calais and the Detention Action lobby, along with four applicants for facing asylum in Rwanda.
The case will question aspects of the policy, which was put forward by Boris Johnson, including Patel’s right to carry out such expulsions, the rationality of Patel’s assertion that Rwanda is generally a “safe third country”, the adequacy of the provisions for the prevention of malaria in Rwanda. , and if it complies with the Human Rights Act.
In addition, officials refuse to rule out sending Afghans to Rwanda on Tuesday, despite the deteriorating political situation in their home country. The only nationality of the people who will not be considered for the new policy is the Rwandans themselves.
Existing government programs to help Afghan refugees – Afghan resettlement and assistance policy, launched in April 2021, and the resettlement plan for Afghan citizens – have proved difficult to access, according to MPs.
It was also reported on Wednesday that Zambia could be the next country to accept asylum seekers from the United Kingdom. The Interior Ministry refuses to say how many people it plans to send to Rwanda on Tuesday or how many people have received letters of intent for other possible flights.
Officials have refused to deny claims that 130 people could be removed next week, but the Guardian has said the figure is around 30.
He has approached the Ministry of the Interior for comment.