According to the BBC’s Mark Easton, only seven asylum seekers will be on the flight to Rwanda tonight.
Now only 7 asylum seekers have to be transferred to Rwanda on a transfer flight from @ukhomeoffice tonight. The 767-seat 767 is likely to have cost £ 0.5 million, but ministers say it is important to set the principle.
– Mark Easton (@BBCMarkEaston) June 14, 2022
Updated at 09.43 BST
Truss responds to bishops saying Rwanda’s deportation policy “shames Britain”, saying they have no alternative plan
Good morning. This evening, the first flight will leave the UK with asylum seekers crossing the Channel on a round trip to Rwanda. It is the first flight scheduled under a policy announced earlier this year and described by Home Secretary Tom Pursglove on Monday in the Commons as a “world first” and part of a “leading global association on migration and economic development with Rwanda “. ”That“ would change the way we collectively deal with illegal immigration ”.
There is a different assessment of the merits of politics in the Times this morning, where the 25 bishops and archbishops sitting in the House of Lords have signed a letter saying it is an “immoral policy” that “shames Britain”. Here is the full letter.
Whether the first deportation flight leaves Britain today for Rwanda or not, this policy should embarrass us as a nation. Rwanda is a brave country recovering from a catastrophic genocide. Shame is ours, because our Christian heritage should inspire us to treat asylum seekers with compassion, fairness, and justice, as we have done for centuries. Those to be deported to Rwanda have had no chance of appealing or reuniting with family in Britain. They have not considered their asylum application, recognition of their medical or other needs, or any attempt to understand their situation.
Many are desperate people fleeing from indescribable horrors. Many are Iranians, Eritreans and Sudanese citizens, who have an asylum rate of at least 88%. These are people that Jesus had in mind, because when we offer hospitality to a stranger, we do it for him. They are the vulnerable ones that the Old Testament calls us to value. We cannot offer asylum to everyone, but we must not outsource our ethical responsibilities, nor discard international law, which protects the right to seek asylum.
We need to end the bad traffic; many churches are involved in their struggle. This requires global cooperation at all levels of society. To reduce dangerous travel in the UK we need safe routes – the church will continue to defend them. But deportations, and the possible forced return of asylum seekers to their home countries, are not the way to go. This immoral policy is embarrassing in Britain.
Secretary of State Liz Truss has been in government interview service this morning and has rejected the assertion of Church of England leaders. She told Sky News:
I do not agree [the letter], the people who are immoral in this case are the traffickers of people who trade in human misery. These people should suggest an alternative policy that works. Our policy is completely legal, it is completely moral.
What I am telling policy critics that they have no alternative on how to deal with this illegal immigration is that they have no alternative, they are criticizing our policy which is effective and works.
Only about seven or eight asylum seekers are still scheduled for tonight’s flight. Originally the figure was much higher, but many people have managed to stop their deportation orders by going to court. More legal challenges are to be filed today, and some government sources have said that this could lead to the cancellation of the flight before the scheduled departure time at 9:30 p.m.
But in interviews this morning, Truss said the flight would take off tonight. He told the Today program:
What I can say is that the flight will leave tonight for Rwanda and if people are not on the flight today they will do so on the next flights.
When asked if he could leave without asylum seekers, he replied:
I’m sure there will be people. What I don’t know is how many people will participate. But the important thing is that we establish the principle, that we establish the deterrent element to deter these gangs of human trafficking from the terrible human misery with which they are negotiating.
Here is the agenda of the day.
9:30 a.m .: Boris Johnson chairs the cabinet.
10:00 a.m .: High court is expected to hear more legal challenges on behalf of individual asylum seekers facing deportation to Rwanda on a flight due out tonight.
10am: Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on ministerial standards, testifies before the Committee on Public Administration and Constitutional Affairs of the Commons.
11am: Scottish Prime Minister Nicola Sturgeon holds a press conference to present the first of a series of documents defending Scottish independence.
11:30 a.m .: Downing Street holds an information session in the lobby.
12.15pm: Robert Courts, the Minister of Aviation, testifies before the Works Council on the cancellation of flights.
12:30 pm: MPs begin debating a Labor motion censoring Kevin Foster, the Minister of Legal Migration, for his handling of the crisis at the Passport Office.
2.30pm: Dame Vera Baird, Victims Commissioner for England and Wales, testifies before the House Justice Committee on the draft Victims Act.
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Updated at 09.30 BST