Liz Truss defends Rwanda’s asylum plan as “completely legal and moral”
The Secretary of State has insisted that the government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda is “completely moral” after the main bishops of the Church of England condemned the plan.
Liz Truss told reporters this morning that “our policy is completely legal, it’s completely moral.” The Church of England had said that the plan “should shame us as a nation.”
The comments came after a last-ditch legal effort to block the first flight to Rwanda was rejected yesterday by the Court of Appeal.
Judges last week upheld a high court ruling that the dismissals could continue.
The PCS border workers’ union and two charities, Care4Calais and Detention Action, had appealed the decision.
Care4Calais said last night that only seven people were approved for Tuesday’s flight elimination after successful individual challenges in recent days.
Meanwhile, Interior Ministry sources told the Guardian that there was a risk that the first deportation flight to Rwanda with asylum seekers could be canceled.
It is expected that three more people, who will have to fly today, will challenge the decision in court.
Key points
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Liz Truss: A “significant” number of people will fly to Rwanda on deportation flights later this year
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said she expects a “significant” number of people to be on one-way flights to Rwanda for asylum seekers by the end of the year.
He told Radio 4’s Today program that he would not predict what the numbers would be, but only said “they will be important.”
Ms Truss said earlier this morning that today’s flight to Rwanda is expected to continue.
“I can’t say exactly how many people will be on the flight,” he said.
Holly Bancroft June 14, 2022 8:39 AM
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Retired migrants from a flight to Rwanda “will be in the next one,” warns Liz Truss
Liz Truss has rejected the Church of England’s condemnation of the plan to put asylum seekers on a return flight to Rwanda, insisting the policy is “completely moral”.
The foreign minister also said dozens of migrants had been removed from the flight list following individual legal challenges with “being on the next flight”.
Church of England leaders have said the permanent relocation of asylum seekers to Central Africa was an “immoral policy” that “shames Britain”.
But Ms Truss said: “Our policy is completely legal, it’s completely moral,” she added, adding that “These people should suggest an alternative policy that works.”
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Adam Forrest June 14, 2022 8:13 AM
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Three more people to challenge their place on the flight from Rwanda today to the courts
Three more people, who are currently due to fly on the Rwandan deportation flight to Rwanda, will file legal challenges before taking off today.
There are still seven people scheduled to be on the flight after dozens of asylum seekers won legal appeals and were withdrawn.
A government source told the BBC that “they will do everything possible to keep people on the fly”.
They added: “Activists and opposition lawyers will do their best, taking advantage of all the loopholes, launching all spurious and undeserved claims, to get their client dragged off the flight today.”
Holly Bancroft June 14, 2022 7:49 AM
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Liz Truss: Rwanda’s flight policy is “completely moral”
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has defended the government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda after senior bishops criticized it.
Ms Truss told Sky News the plan was “completely moral”. He added that he did not agree with the bishops’ criticism, saying: “The people who are immoral in this case are the traffickers of people who trade in human misery.”
“These people need to suggest an alternative policy that works.
“Our policy is completely legal, it is completely moral.
“What I’m telling policy critics that they have no alternative to how we deal with this illegal immigration is that they have no alternative, they’re criticizing our policy for being effective and working.”
Holly Bancroft June 14, 2022 7:37 AM
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Liz Truss: We are looking forward to sending a flight to Rwanda today
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said the government expects to send asylum seekers on a flight to Rwanda today despite the number of passengers reaching single figures.
There are currently seven people who are scheduled to be on the flight after the number was reduced due to legal challenges.
Ms Truss said this morning that those who criticize politics must find an alternative to tackling illegal immigration.
(EPA)
Holly Bancroft June 14, 2022 7:23 AM
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An Interior Ministry source says the deportation flight is at risk of being canceled
Interior Ministry sources told the Guardian that there was a risk that the first expulsion flight to Rwanda, with asylum seekers, would be canceled after legal challenges led to the expectation that there would be an asylum seeker. there were less than 10 people on board.
“I think it could be canceled,” a government source said. “This is due to individual cases rather than a general challenge.”
A charity, Care4Calais, said on Monday that there were fewer than eight.
Meanwhile, UNHCR has said that Rwanda does not have the capacity to process complaints and that “there is a risk that some migrants may be returned to the countries from which they had fled.”
Maroosha Muzaffar14 June 2022 07:15
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The government is willing to take even one asylum seeker to Rwanda, the prime minister’s spokesman says
The number of asylum seekers on the first charter plane carrying them to Rwanda has been reduced from 130 to seven. Downing Street, however, refused to rule out sending an entire charter plane with only one asylum seeker on board.
The charity for refugees, the Care4Calais group, said only seven people had been approved for the expulsion from Tuesday’s flight following successful individual challenges in recent days.
But the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “I am not aware that there is a set limit.”
The Mirror reported that the spokesperson claimed that the current approach cost taxpayers £ 1.5 billion each year, including almost £ 5 million a day lodged by asylum seekers in hotels.
Maroosha Muzaffar June 14, 2022 7:00 AM
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Migrants will be treated with “security, dignity and respect,” says Rwanda’s high commissioner
Rwanda’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Johnston Busingye, criticized critics of the government’s plan to deport asylum seekers and said they would be treated with “security, dignity and respect”.
He said his country would be a “safe haven” for them and was “disappointed” that critics had questioned Rwanda’s reasons for accepting the scheme.
His comments came after it was learned that fewer than 10 migrants are expected to be on the first flight to Rwanda on Tuesday.
Maroosha Muzaffar14 June 2022 06:50
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UN refugee chief says deportation policy “bad”
Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, has condemned the UK’s plan to expel asylum seekers from Rwanda and described the policy as “all wrong”.
Grandi said: “The precedent this creates is catastrophic for a shared concept, such as asylum.”
In a statement, the UN refugee chief stressed that the United Kingdom is a signatory to the International Refugee Convention and said that “trying to export the responsibilities” that this entailed “is contrary to any notion of responsibility and sharing.” of international responsibility “.
Grandi stressed, “I mean, saving people from dangerous travel is great, it’s absolutely great, but is that the right way to do it? Is that the real motivation for this deal to happen? I don’t think so.”
Maroosha Muzaffar14 June 2022 06:30
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Conservative MPs applaud the decision to allow Rwanda’s first deportation flight
Conservative MPs applauded in the House of Commons after a last legal bid to block Rwanda’s first failed deportation flight had failed.
Seven people will be on board this Tuesday’s flight to the East African country after the judges of the Court of Appeal rejected the challenge to the refusal of a judge of the High Court in grant a precautionary measure.
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Maroosha Muzaffar14 June 2022 06:15