Boris Johnson's plan to send migrants to Rwanda is ALREADY delayed: No10 says flights will begin 'within months' after initially saying they would start THIS MONTH amid legal action from human rights groups

  • More than 7,000 migrants have crossed the Channel this year - treble last year's rate for same period 
  • Bank Holiday weekend saw a surge in journeys feared to have been caused by delays to Rwanda plan
  • Border Force officials have now warned that the Channel crisis could 'get worse before it gets better' 
  • France claimed policy had created a window of opportunity that people-smugglers were exploiting 

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Boris Johnson's flagship plan to send economic migrants to Rwanda may not start for months in the face of legal action by human rights groups, Downing Street indicated today.

The Government had wanted flights to Kigali to start by the end of May under the £120million deal it secured with the Kagame government last month.

Under the partnership agreement, people arriving in the UK, including by crossing the Channel in small boats, will be flown 4,000 miles to East Africa if they are deemed to have travelled illegally for economic reasons rather than asylum.

But No10 today said it could not put a timescale on when the scheme will begin. Last week two asylum seekers who came to Britain in the backs of lorries this year instructed lawyers to bring a legal challenge against the policy. 

A man from Eritrea who came to the UK in February and an Iranian who arrived in March worry they will be flown to Africa because the Home Office has not yet replied to their asylum claims.

The Government has also been locked in a battle with the Church of England, which has branded the scheme 'immoral'. 

This morning, the PM's official spokesman told reporters flights would start before the cases were heard, but appeared to move back the deadline for them to begin. 

'We have received pre-action correspondence ... we still aim to have the first flights leave in a matter of months, but because of some of those challenges it's hard to put an exact time on it,' he said.

The Government had wanted flights to Kigali to start by the end of May under the £120million deal it secured with the Kagame government last month.

The Government had wanted flights to Kigali to start by the end of May under the £120million deal it secured with the Kagame government last month.

Under the partnership agreement, people arriving in the UK, including by crossing the Channel in small boats, will be flown 4,000 miles to East Africa if they are deemed to have travelled illegally for economic reasons rather than asylum.

Under the partnership agreement, people arriving in the UK, including by crossing the Channel in small boats, will be flown 4,000 miles to East Africa if they are deemed to have travelled illegally for economic reasons rather than asylum. 

The Government has also been locked in a battle with the Church of England, which has branded the scheme 'immoral'.

The Government has also been locked in a battle with the Church of England, which has branded the scheme 'immoral'.

The spokesman said the intention was 'to move ahead with this as soon as possible' but 'we are, not unexpectedly, seeing some of these legal challenges, and in a free and democratic society we need to engage with those in the normal way'.

'But we are still planning to move ahead with the flights at the earliest opportunity.'

It came as dozens more migrants crossed the Channel today for the third day in a row, after a Bank Holiday surge.

At least 25 arrivals including young children were escorted into Dover in Kent on board Border Force cutter Speedwell this morning, before being led along the gangway for processing by Army personnel in hi-vis jackets.

The Ministry of Defence said it had intercepted nearly 550 migrants in two days - 254 on Sunday and 293 yesterday - following an 11-day break in crossings, bringing the total number in the past three days to more than 600 and this year's total to over 7,200.

According to the maritime prefect of the Channel, French authorities saved eight people on Sunday after they got into difficulties off Sangatte in France. Three of the group were treated for hypothermia. They were taken into the care of a medical team in Calais. 

Critics said the 11-day break had simply been due to the poor weather, and insisted that the Home Secretary's Rwanda policy - under which illegal cross-Channel migrants will be sent 4,000 miles away to the east African state - would not act as a deterrent to those seeking to reach Britain. 

But anxious Border Force officials have now suggested that further delays to the Rwanda scheme will only embolden migrants to attempt the dangerous voyage, warning that the Channel crisis could 'get worse before it gets better'.

Tony Smith, a former director-general of the Border Force, said: 'If you can show people will fly from Manston [the Kent RAF base where they will be held] directly to Rwanda, that will hit the smuggling gangs and that will hit the migrants. At the moment, it seems a bit of a game of bluff. No one has been sent to Rwanda yet.'

Last night, France claimed the Rwanda policy had actually created a window of opportunity that people-smugglers were exploiting. 

Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont said there was evidence that criminals were encouraging migrants to attempt the crossing.

Border Force Speedwell brought dozens of Channel migrants into Dover docks, May 3, 2022

Border Force Speedwell brought dozens of Channel migrants into Dover docks, May 3, 2022

Migrants pictured arriving at Dover Harbour after being intercepted in the Channel, May 3, 2022

Migrants pictured arriving at Dover Harbour after being intercepted in the Channel, May 3, 2022

Border Force and the military are seen bringing Channel migrants ashore to Dover, May 3, 2022

Border Force and the military are seen bringing Channel migrants ashore to Dover, May 3, 2022

Channel migrants are seen wearing Covid face masks as they are brought ashore to Dover, May 3, 2022

Channel migrants are seen wearing Covid face masks as they are brought ashore to Dover, May 3, 2022

Migrants are pictured walking up the gangway at Dover Harbour in Kent after crossing the Channel, May 3, 2022

Migrants are pictured walking up the gangway at Dover Harbour in Kent after crossing the Channel, May 3, 2022

A record 28,395 migrants reached the UK illegally last year in small boats over the Channel, a 200 per cent increase on 2020

A record 28,395 migrants reached the UK illegally last year in small boats over the Channel, a 200 per cent increase on 2020

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen
Home Secretary Priti Patel

Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen (left) said that the drop in migrants arriving in small boats to zero was evidence that the Rwanda scheme from Home Secretary Priti Patel (right) is 'working already'

Even Calais MP admits that £80m Britain has paid France to curb Channel crossings is a 'waste of money' 

Calais MP Pierre-Henri Dumont has admitted that the more than £80million that Britain has given France to stop Channel migrant crossings the past two years is a waste of money.

He said no amount of funding or manpower would stop migrants crossing the Channel and that the money being sent from the UK to France was only 'making both sides of the Channel angry'.

In an interview with The Times in Calais, Mr Dumont said: 'I strongly believe that we need to exit the relationship that we have right now with the UK, which is basically the UK is giving us money to do the job, because it makes both sides of the Channel angry.

'The UK taxpayer because they say, 'We're giving money to the French, what are they doing, we still have crossings?' But we are not your b***h. 

'We know that the migrants will continue to cross and at the end it will only make people on both sides of the Channel angry and unhappy because we think you're not giving enough money and you think you are giving us enough money and you don't see the results.'

He said there was no prospect of France agreeing to take back migrants who had crossed the Channel. 

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'From what I heard from the migrants, it seems that the news of the new legislation in the UK with Rwanda gives the smugglers the availability of new commercial arguments [to] the migrants to urge them to cross quickly for them not to be sent away because of this new legislation,' he added.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson is said to have wanted the first flights of migrants on a one-way ticket to Rwanda to leave at the end of this month. 

But government sources admitted last night that they were likely to be delayed by legal challenges being mounted by three different groups.

And today, Downing Street acknowledged it could be months before any migrants to the UK are sent on a one-way trip to Rwanda, with legal challenges highlighted as one of the 'variables' affecting the plan.

As crossings of the English Channel reached more than 7,000 so far this year, the Prime Minister's official spokesman was asked if Mr Johnson was disappointed the Rwanda plan had not deterred people from making the journey.

'It's too early to judge what the situation will be long-term on this policy. You will know - as we've seen - migrant crossings continue, criminal gangs continue to profit. This is unsustainable,' the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

Asked when the success or otherwise of the plan could be judged, the spokesman said: 'I don't think there's a fixed date... obviously, there are a number of variables we need to deal with, not least some of the legal challenges which have been talked about.'

The spokesman was unable to say when the first flight would be: 'We have received pre-action correspondence from a number of legal firms, I can't get into that more... but we still maintain our hope to have the first flights take place in a matter of months.'

Downing Street said the Rwanda plan was a 'fully legally-secure approach that has been tested and thought through'.

Asked whether the Government was waiting for the legal challenges to be dealt with before even starting flights, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'No.

'We have received pre-action correspondence ... We still aim to have the first flights leave in a matter of months, but because of some of those challenges it's hard to put an exact time on it.'

Mr Johnson had reportedly wanted the first flights to take place by the end of May but the comments from No 10 suggest this might have slipped.

The spokesman said the intention was 'to move ahead with this as soon as possible' but 'we are, not unexpectedly, seeing some of these legal challenges, and in a free and democratic society we need to engage with those in the normal way'.

No10 admits it could be MONTHS before any migrants are sent to Rwanda

Downing Street acknowledged it could be months before any migrants to the UK are sent on a one-way trip to Rwanda, with legal challenges highlighted as one of the 'variables' affecting the plan.

As crossings of the English Channel reached more than 7,000 so far this year, the Prime Minister's official spokesman was asked if Mr Johnson was disappointed the Rwanda plan had not deterred people from making the journey.

'It's too early to judge what the situation will be long-term on this policy. You will know - as we've seen - migrant crossings continue, criminal gangs continue to profit. This is unsustainable,' the Prime Minister's official spokesman said.

Asked when the success or otherwise of the plan could be judged, the spokesman said: 'I don't think there's a fixed date... obviously, there are a number of variables we need to deal with, not least some of the legal challenges which have been talked about.'

The spokesman was unable to say when the first flight would be: 'We have received pre-action correspondence from a number of legal firms, I can't get into that more... but we still maintain our hope to have the first flights take place in a matter of months.'

Downing Street said the Rwanda plan was a 'fully legally-secure approach that has been tested and thought through'.

Asked whether the Government was waiting for the legal challenges to be dealt with before even starting flights, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: 'No.

'We have received pre-action correspondence ... We still aim to have the first flights leave in a matter of months, but because of some of those challenges it's hard to put an exact time on it.'

Mr Johnson had reportedly wanted the first flights to take place by the end of May but the comments from No 10 suggest this might have slipped.

The spokesman said the intention was 'to move ahead with this as soon as possible' but 'we are, not unexpectedly, seeing some of these legal challenges, and in a free and democratic society we need to engage with those in the normal way'.

'But we are still planning to move ahead with the flights at the earliest opportunity.'

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'But we are still planning to move ahead with the flights at the earliest opportunity.'

Conservative MPs urged the Government to press ahead with the flights regardless. Tim Loughton told Radio 4's The World At One: 'It may seem a very robust, extreme scheme, but it is the first thing that has actually been put forward that would actually practically do something about this problem.

'People in the South and up and down the country are just sick and tired of these people smugglers making a fortune out of human trafficking, this misery coming across the Channel.

'The Rwanda scheme is an attempt to do something practical about it. But is very early days - it was only announced three weeks ago and it hasn't started yet.'

Fellow Tory MP Andrew Bridgen added: 'The sooner people realise that it's not a hollow threat, the sooner the crossings will be reduced.

'The sooner flights start removing illegal entrants to Rwanda the sooner these economic migrants will stop placing themselves in the hands of the ruthless people traffickers and the sooner their exploitation will stop.' 

The MoD said Sunday's crossings were made in seven small boats. Those brought ashore yesterday were put on coaches to be taken to the immigration processing centre at the former Manston airport near Ramsgate.

Pictures showed large groups of mostly working-age men in life jackets and blankets. Several women and young children were with them. Channel migrants are still processed in the same was as before the Rwanda deal was announced, with most placed in hotels while their claims are processed.

The MoD took over control of migrant operations in April, when the Government also announced controversial plans to send some of those making the cross-Channel journey to Rwanda.

The Government's Nationality and Borders Bill - dubbed the anti-refugee Bill by campaigners as it makes it a criminal offence to knowingly arrive in the UK illegally and includes powers to process asylum seekers overseas - became law on Thursday.

Mr Johnson has said tens of thousands could be sent to Africa under the £120million deal, which will let them apply for asylum there. 

But refugee organisations said the Bill does 'nothing to address the reasons people come', with one charity saying the majority of migrants it spoke to said the plan will not put them off crossing to the UK. 

The Care4Calais charity said a survey of 64 migrants found 87 per cent had heard of the plan and 75 per cent said 'it won't put them off crossing to the UK'. A spokesman added: 'They have no choice: they've fled danger made long, dangerous journeys'.

The charity branded the Rwanda deal - which Miss Patel has described as a 'world-first' agreement - as 'just another in a long line of deterrence policies announced by this Government over the last few years'.

Care4Calais said: 'Refugees have escaped from the worst horrors in this world. When you're risking your life, what else do you have to lose? When someone explains 'even death wouldn't stop me' trying to get to the UK, it's clear that even the threat of Rwanda won't change anything.'

Enver Solomon, chief executive of Refugee Council, said the resumption of crossings at the weekend showed that 'draconian policies enshrined in the Nationality and Borders Bill and their (the Government's) Rwanda deal are doing little to deter desperate people jumping on boats because they do nothing to address the reasons people come'.

He called on the UK to have a 'grown-up conversation with France and the EU about sharing responsibility'.

A Channel migrant is seen walking up the gangway in Dover Harbour in Kent, May 3, 2022

A Channel migrant is seen walking up the gangway in Dover Harbour in Kent, May 3, 2022 

Border Force are seen as they bring Channel migrants in to Dover docks, May 2, 2022

Border Force are seen as they bring Channel migrants in to Dover docks, May 2, 2022

Young children are helped by military personnel amongst a group of people thought to be migrants as they are brought in to Dover, Kent, Monday May 2, 2022

Young children are helped by military personnel amongst a group of people thought to be migrants as they are brought in to Dover, Kent, Monday May 2, 2022

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel, Monday May 2, 2022

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel, Monday May 2, 2022

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel, Monday May 2, 2022

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover, Kent, onboard a Border Force vessel, Monday May 2, 2022

He said: 'We need a fair and humane asylum system, with means well thought-out, long-term solutions that address why people are forced from their homes, and provides them with safe routes to the UK.'

Sunday's figures mean at least 6,947 people have reached the UK since the start of the year after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small boats, data shows.

That is more than three times the amount recorded by this time last year (2,004) and over six times the figure for the same period in 2020 (1,006).

Typically there can be periods of several days or weeks without migrant crossings, often depending on weather conditions. Two longer gaps of 16 and 13 days without crossings were recorded earlier this year, before the Rwanda deal was announced.

The longest period without any crossings so far in 2022 was 16 days, between January 27 and February 11, an analysis of Government figures shows.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said there needs to be 'an international co-ordinated criminal response' to tackle the 'criminal gangs' that he said are driving the migrant crisis.

Speaking on the campaign trail in Worthing, West Sussex, he said: 'I know what can be done if you've got teams working together across Europe all the way along those routes, absolutely bearing down on these criminal gangs, and working very closely with the French authorities as well.'

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