Rwanda flights will take off in spring ‘even if ECHR intervenes’
RWANDA flights will take off this spring even if the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) intervenes, the Home Office believes.
Officials are “stepping up” preparations for the first two deportation flights of around 150 migrants, according to sources close to James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, before the Rwanda Bill has got Royal Assent.
The proposed legislation – designed to pave the way for the flights – is not due to return to Parliament until after the Easter recess on April 15 but indications by the Archbishop of Canterbury the most Rev Justin Welby, one of its arch critics, that he will not seek to block it have raised hopes it will pass within days. Ministers believe two key changes – in the legislation and the way the Strasbourg court operates – will mean that even if a “few” migrants succeed in avoiding deportation, an entire flight will not be grounded as happened in June 2022.
“It’s true that operational planning ahead of the final stages of the Rwanda Bill has moved into a new phase. The Home Secretary and ministers alongside officials are now increasingly focused on the practical details of putting all aspects of the scheme into operation as quickly as possible,” said a source close to Mr Cleverly.
The Bill will only allow legal challenges by individual migrants and bars any systemic challenge to the flights.
The European court has also tightened its requirements for migrants to successfully challenge their removal from the UK by explicitly detailing the conditions required.
A new codified version of so-called rule 39 injunctions, which were used by the Strasbourg judge to block the first deportation flight, now explicitly states there must be an “imminent risk of
‘The Home Secretary and ministers are focused on the details of putting the scheme into operation’
irreparable harm” before a migrant’s removal can be halted. “We don’t think the European Convention on Human Rights is going to block whole flights,” said a source. Dozens of migrants have received notification from the Home Office over the past fortnight, warning them of possible removal to a “safe third country”.
Letters have told them that, if their asylum claim was deemed “inadmissible”, immigration officers might “consider whether there were any other countries where you would be safe and which agree to admit you”.
Home Office officials denied it was an attempt to speed up the timetable, although asylum lawyers believed it would enable the Government to tackle problems that could delay their removal ahead of the Rwanda Bill gaining Royal Assent.
Meanwhile yesterday, Rwanda stated the UK leaving the convention would be compatible with its deportation deal with the UK Government. In a statement, the Rwandan government said it was up to Britain to decide whether to remain a signatory to the European Convention on Human Rights after hints by Mr Sunak that he would be prepared to quit it.
Rwanda warned in December it would quit the deportation agreement if the UK’S scheme was judged to be in breach of international law. However, its clarification indicates that the Rwandans do not regard quitting the convention as a breach of international law.
Mr Sunak sparked fresh speculation about the prospect of the UK leaving the convention when he declared in an interview with The Sun that controlling illegal immigration was “more important” than membership.
Insiders saw the declaration as evidence of Rwanda’s increasing determination to get the flights off.
However, a Tory source said: “The Government should just admit the statement from Rwanda in December was a put-up job and that they’ve conned the British people.”