Rwanda flights will deport asylum seekers ‘indefinitely’, says Cleverly

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1. Article Text:

   Several flights a month will deport asylum seekers to Rwanda “indefinitely”, the home secretary has said, as he argued that the 1.8m per person cost of the scheme was justified.

   James Cleverly, in his first interview since the government’s plan was approved by parliament on Monday, said he had booked a succession of initial flights and was preparing to order the detention of people seeking refuge in the UK so they could be sent to east Africa.

   Aiming to defuse criticism that the Rwanda plan was a waste of money, which the National Audit Office said could exceed £580m by the end of the decade, Cleverly said it would “massively reduce” the costs of housing asylum seekers in the UK.

   Analysis from the refugee suggests the Rwanda policy could cause “a system meltdown”.

   The home secretary’s most detailed comments on the scheme were made on a visit to Lampedusa, the Mediterranean island that has been the first European landing point for hundreds of thousands of people escaping war and famine in Africa.

   Cleverly told the Guardian: “The prime minister has made clear we’ve got facilities, we’ve got plans in place, that will facilitate multiple flights per month, indefinitely.

   “We have booked a number of initial flights. And we have got the facilities to continue booking flights on a regular drumbeat, through the summer.”

   View image in fullscreenCleverly speaking to International Red Cross staff on his visit to Lampedusa. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

   Royal assent, when the monarch formally agrees to make a bill an act of parliament, is expected to be granted on Thursday, according to Whitehall sources. This is expected to be swiftly followed by the ratification of the Rwanda treaty, which is the government’s attempt to respond to criticism from the supreme court.

   The troubled scheme, which is two years old, has so far sent no one to Rwanda. But its success is an important component of Rishi Sunak’s plan to revive his fortunes before a general election.

   If the Rwanda scheme was to fulfil its aim of deterring people from travelling to the UK in small boats, there must be regular and repeated deportation flights, Cleverly said.

   “Obviously, people will take a huge amount of interest in the first flight,” he said. “But we recognise that it is when people say, ‘Hang on a minute, there’s another flight and then another one and then another one’ – that regularity is what will trigger the deterrent effect in the Channel.”

   Cleverly said the cost of the Rwanda treaty, which would pay the Paul Kagame government £490m once 300 people have been sent, would be justified if small boats stop coming to the UK.

   “A lot of this expenditure is linked to the success of the project,” he said. “And the project’s success will itself massively reduce the cost to the British government, for example, of the asylum accommodation bill. So when we’re looking at the costs, we’ve got to look at it in the context of the alternative reality.”

   View image in fullscreenCleverly clambers on to a Guardia di Finanza police boat to learn about how they tackle illegal crossings. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

   Lawyers representing asylum seekers who have previously faced possible removal to Rwanda are considering legal action once the legislation is passed, the Guardian understands.

   They are expected to mount a challenge on the grounds that the law is incompatible with the European convention on human rights. Cleverly declined an invitation to say that his plans were legally watertight.

   “We have, of course, given a huge amount of thought to the things that have happened in the past and what might happen in the future,” he said. “We absolutely know that our planning is robust.”

   Last week, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, signed three agreements with Tunisia to curb travel to Italian islands such as Lampedusa.

   In a harbour on the island, one sea rescue worker criticised Cleverly for travelling to the tiny Sicilian island to promote his Rwanda deal.

   Austin Cooper, an island mediator and care coordinator on Sea Watch’s rapid response vessel that helps to rescue those in trouble at sea, said: “Instead of criminalising people on the move and taking away safe and legal routes to arrive, Cleverly should be making it possible for the people who need to reach safety and be welcomed with dignity, not getting tips from European leaders on how to make the Channel even more dangerous.”

   The Refugee Council called for immigration laws to be repealed to avoid catastrophe, as it estimated recent changes to the system may end up emptying the public purse of up to £17.1m a day – or about £6.2bn a year – in accommodation costs alone.

   View image in fullscreenA discarded vessel on a beach in Lampedusa. Photograph: Victoria Jones/PA

   The charity also suggested 115,575 asylum seekers could be stranded in a “permanent limbo” by the end of 2024.

   Under the Illegal Migration Act, which became law last year, asylum seekers who arrive by small boats are banned from applying as their cases are deemed “inadmissible” by the government.

   The law also puts a duty on the home secretary to arrange for their removal, though this element of the legislation is yet to be brought into force.

   Enver Solomon, the chief executive of the Refugee Council said: “This report lays bare the immense cost, chaos and human misery that the Illegal Migration Act and Rwanda plan will unleash.

   “The government has recklessly brought in this misguided legislation without any apparent thought to its staggering costs and long-term consequences. What is happening is of a different nature to anything seen before because it shuts down the entire asylum system, which is unprecedented.”

   More than 400 migrants arrived in the UK on the day five people, including a child, died while trying to cross the Channel, it emerged on Wednesday. The crossings took place as the tragedy off the coast of northern France unfolded, only hours after parliament passed the Rwanda legislation.

2. A plane can carry what 200 folk? ‘Several flights a month’ is what 3 for 600 a month on the planes

   That’s the number of arrivals YESTERDAY.

   A 3% of being deported who wouldn’t take those odds

   How is this ever going to work!

3. I’m still not seeing what’s stopping them from committing a crime as soon and they get to Rwanda and being sent back? If they commit one within 5 years then the agreement means they’re sent back. Why would they not just commit one ASAP? Also:

   >Cleverly said the cost of the Rwanda treaty, which would pay the Paul Kagame government £490m once 300 people have been sent

   This is absolutely astounding. People vote for this. Think of all the problems you have in life and then consider the fact that there’s people who walk beside you who support spending half a *billion* pounds to send 300 people to Rwanda for less than 5 years.

4. “The National Audit Office said could exceed £580m by the end of the decade”

   We’re currently spending £8 million per day (£3 billion per year) on hotels and other costs for asylum seekers

   https://fullfact.org/immigration/sunak-8m-asylum-hotels/

   Edit: Seems its already working as a deterrent?

   https://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/s/iPN2PjiGf7

5. >Rwanda flights will deport asylum seekers ‘indefinitely’, says Cleverly

   This is, however, using a slightly different interpretation of the word “indefinitely”, where the “in” prefix indicates a negative, as in “ineffecient” or “inexperienced”.

   So the Rwanda flights will deport asylum seekers “indefinitely”, meaning not very definitely at all.

6. It’s about time. Moving to the UK is a great privilege that must be earned and shown with correct documents, paperwork and skills.

7. There is no joined up thinking either. If I was the criminal gang I would simply tell people you have. 1% chance of being sent to Rwanda. If you do we will pick you up and send you again for free.

8. Until they come back illegally again .. come on, this whole plan is so stupid

9. Even if sunak & the tories actually start these flights they’ll only run until the next election when starmer will immediately stop them. This has to have been the most ridiculous policy for sunak to pin his hopes on. IMHO the only thing which may actually stop the boats is if illegal immigrants stop getting accommodation, food & health care free. Don’t give them these things and any cash and the UK will stop being so attractive.

10. the Illegal Migration Act breaks international law, so what will actually happen is the UK government will be mired in legal arguments and open itself up to huge compensation claims, not solve the problem and by focusing on this instead of putting money into investigating asylum seekers claims it’s actually counter productive.

    I don’t think people crossing the channel is a good idea. It’s unsafe for the people crossing, for our emergency services and for the country because some will be criminals. This Rwanda plan though is bullshit. Poorly planned, poorly implemented and illegal under international law.

    Need to invest in staff to process claims quicker and build a reception center in France. Burying your head under the sand is no solution to a problem that is not going to go away.

    Will not solve a thing and probably will never actually happen.

11. Yada yada yada.

    Call the GE, then let the adults clean up your mess.

12. Maybe I read this wrong somewhere but I thought the agreement was limited to a total of 150 after which the agreement ends? Can anyone clarify?

13. £490M for 300 Transported😳?

    1.By the way who built up the complexes or housing units in Rwanda?

    2. Who awarded the contract from Architectural designs to build?

    3. Would simply working to stop the crossings and working with Govt of the Nations from where the boats take off not be cheaper and prove more of a deterrent and ultimately save lives?

    4. Sunak is very misinformed, because these illegal immigrants did not take all that risk just to be kicked out to Rwanda. Cue rioting amongst the illegals, and the gullible many showers of sympathies and baying wolves if the Far Right drawing lines on the Streets.

    The Rwandan Transportation is making 2nd Class humans of these illegals.

14. How does he know it’s indefinitely? What’s to stop them coming back

15. Rwanda is a lovely place, nice and temperate with gorgeous scenery, it could be the best thing for these poor people, better than a government holding cell in shitty British weather. I’m not trolling, I’m trying to find a positive angle

16. Give half a billion to the home office to sort their shit out.

    This government are absolutely mentally deranged.

17. Ah yes, James ‘Not So’ Cleverly with yet another pipe dream.

18. What about the vulnerable refugees which we have agreed to take in from Rwanda under the reciprocal part of this deal?  Are they settling in the UK indefinitely?

19. So how long do you’ll think it’ll take for someone who’s been sent to Rwanda to end back up in a boat to the Uk

20. Morgan Freeman Voice: “the flights did not deport asylum seekers indefinitely”