Legal challenges to the policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda may be the reason the plan has not yet begun to stem the unofficial crossings of the English Channel, Downing Street said.
After a period without a significant number of crossings amid bad weather, several hundred people have traveled in recent days, leading to more than 7,000 so far this year. This is the first time since the adoption of the bill on nationalities and borders, which sets the policy framework.
Asked if Boris Johnson was disappointed that the plan had not yet prevented such transitions, a spokesman for the prime minister said a series of legal challenges to the plan could be part of the reason.
Asked when it will be possible to find out if the policy works, he said: “I don’t think there is a fixed date. There are obviously a number of variables that we have to deal with, not least some of the legal challenges that are being addressed. “
Asked if he believed that asylum seekers in France read about lawsuits and thus decided to risk passing, he said: “I do not seek to prescribe motivation to people. I am just outlining some of the challenges that this policy has that we have been expecting from the beginning. And that’s what we see. “
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According to the plan, people arriving in the UK on informal routes, such as small boats crossing the English Channel, could be deported to Rwanda. Their asylum applications will then be assessed with a view to remaining in the African country, with no prospect of living in the United Kingdom.
In a letter of preliminary action sent to the Home Office, which is likely to lead to a lawsuit for judicial review, Lee Day’s lawyers said the Freedom from Torture charity “has serious concerns about the legitimacy of the policy”.
He called for “disclosure of policy information”, including documents outlining it, risk assessments and a memorandum of understanding signed by the governments of the United Kingdom and Rwanda.
When the policy was announced, the announced plan was for the first deportation flights to depart by the end of May. Asked about the schedule, Johnson’s spokesman said it had slipped.
He said: “We are still working on the first flights in a few months, but some of these challenges make it difficult to determine the exact time.
The plan, he said, was “to continue with this as soon as possible,” but the government did not unexpectedly see some of these legal challenges, and in a free and democratic society we must engage with them in the normal way. But we still plan to continue flying as soon as possible. “
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