Rwanda plan to tackle migrant crisis stuck in legal limbo and may not get green-light for MONTHS 

Rwanda plan to tackle migrant crisis is stuck in legal limbo and might not get the green-light for MONTHS

  • The Rwanda asylum scheme could be in limbo until November due to hearings
  • Alongside migrant charities, the Public and Commercial Services Union has brought a judicial review to scrutinise the lawfulness of the Government’s policy
  • Brought in by Priti Patel in April, the scheme has not taken off and the first flight to Rwanda had to be abandoned within half an hour of take-off on June 14

The Rwanda asylum scheme will be in limbo for months while the number of Channel migrants continues to soar.

Home Secretary Priti Patel is facing a legal challenge from a trade union which represents thousands of her own Border Force officers.

Along with a group of migrant charities, the Public and Commercial Services Union has brought a judicial review of the Rwanda scheme which – after long delays – is due to begin on September 5.

Along with a group of migrant charities, the Public and Commercial Services Union has brought a judicial review of the Rwanda scheme 

Home Secretary Priti Patel is facing a legal challenge from a trade union which represents thousands of her own Border Force officers

Home Secretary Priti Patel is facing a legal challenge from a trade union which represents thousands of her own Border Force officers

It will last for a week, and then a second hearing in a challenge brought by another charity, Asylum Aid, will take place in October.

Both hearings will scrutinise the lawfulness of the Government’s policy, announced by Miss Patel in April, that will see migrants from the Channel and other ‘irregular’ routes handed a one-way ticket to Rwanda to claim asylum there rather than in Britain.

The first attempt at removing migrants on a charter flight to Kigali had to be abandoned within half an hour of take-off on June 14, after a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights.

An out-of-hours duty judge in Strasbourg, whose identity has still not been revealed, ruled that removals to Rwanda could not take place until the UK’s domestic courts had completed a full review of the policy. Strasbourg’s actions came even though a series of senior British judges had declined to block the flight.

The first attempt at removing migrants on a charter flight to Kigali had to be abandoned within half an hour of take-off on June 14, after a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights

The first attempt at removing migrants on a charter flight to Kigali had to be abandoned within half an hour of take-off on June 14, after a last-minute intervention by the European Court of Human Rights

Ministers are unlikely to attempt a second charter flight until both High Court hearings are complete and judges have issued their ruling

Ministers are unlikely to attempt a second charter flight until both High Court hearings are complete and judges have issued their ruling

Ministers are unlikely to attempt a second charter flight until both High Court hearings are complete and judges have issued their ruling – which could be in November.

Earlier hearings in the High Court revealed internal government memos had warned ministers against making an agreement with Rwanda due to its poor human rights record.

Another official memo written in April this year said that the ‘fraud risk is very high’ in the east African nation and there was ‘limited evidence about whether these proposals will be a sufficient deterrent for those seeking to enter the UK illegally’.