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Liz Truss defends Rwanda asylum scheme as ‘completely legal and moral’
The foreign secretary has insisted the government’s policy to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda is “completely moral” after the Church of England’s senior bishops 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 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 upheld a high court ruling last week which found that the removals could go ahead.
The border force workers union PCS, and two charities — Care4Calais and Detention Action — had appealed the decision.
Care4Calais said last night that only seven people were approved for removal on Tuesday’s flight after successful individual challenges in recent days.
Meanwhile, Home Office sources revealed to the Guardian that there was a risk that the first deportation flight to Rwanda carrying asylum seekers could be cancelled.
Three more people, who are due to be on today’s flight, are expected to challenge the decision in the courts.
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Show latest update 1655197067 Lawyer for one of the last people on Rwanda flight hits out at government briefing
A lawyer, representing one of the last people scheduled to be on today’s Rwanda flight, has said that the Home Office refused to stop his client’s removal despite being aware of his poor mental health.
Writing on Twitter, Alasdair Mackenzie criticised government comments made to the BBC that hit out at repeated legal attempts to stop the flight.
“It’s bad enough that this policy is being pursued at all without the HO launching this sort of attack on people trying legitimately to stop them,” Mr Mackenzie wrote.
He said that “the Home Office has refused to climb down despite being aware of [his client’s] poor mental health.”
A government source had told the BBC that they “will do everything possible to keep people on the flight”.
They added: “Campaigners and opponent lawyers will be doing everything possible, exploiting every loophole, throwing in every spurious and meritless claim, to get their client dragged off the flight today.”
Holly Bancroft 14 June 2022 09:57
1655195034 Bishop of Manchester condemns Rwanda plan
Bishop of Manchester David Walker, who has signed a letter condemning the Government’s Rwanda policy, has said that Britain has become “more hostile to those who are the world’s most vulnerable”.
He told Times Radio: “I was proposing amendments in the House of Lords even a few weeks ago, trying to find ways to allow those people for whom Britain is the appropriate place for them to come and rebuild their lives, to be able to make their case to be able to come to this country safely, to prove their case.
“And then, when they have proven their case, be able to stay here, as that is what the 1951 Convention was all about, and that is what Britain has a very proud heritage of having supported for decades.
“But sadly, over recent times, and not just under this Government, we seem to have become more hostile to those who are the world’s most vulnerable.”
He added: “The numbers are not huge, and we are not being flooded with impossible numbers that Britain as a society cannot cope with. We’re dealing with a small number of the world’s most vulnerable.”
Press Assocation 14 June 2022 09:23
1655192374 Liz Truss: ‘Significant’ numbers of people will be flying to Rwanda on deportation flights by end of year
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has said that she expects that “significant” numbers of people will be on one-way flights to Rwanda for asylum seekers by the end of the year.
She told Radio 4’s Today programme that she would not predict what the numbers will be, but said only that “they will be significant”.
Ms Truss said earlier this morning that today’s Rwanda flight is expected to go ahead.
“I can’t say exactly how many people will be on the flight,” she said, “but the really important thing is we establish the principle and we start to break the business model of these appalling people traffickers who are trading in misery.”
Holly Bancroft 14 June 2022 08:39
1655190795 Migrants pulled from Rwanda flight ‘will be on next one’, warns Liz Truss
Liz Truss has rejected the Church of England’s condemnation of the plan to put asylum seekers on a one-way flight to Rwanda – insisting the policy is “completely moral”.
The foreign secretary also claimed that dozens of migrants who have been removed from the flight list after individual legal challenges with “be on the next flight”.
Leaders of the Church of England 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”, adding: “Those people need to suggest an alternative policy that will be work.”
Read the full story here:
Migrants pulled from ‘moral’ Rwanda flight ‘will be on next one’ Liz Truss warns ‘Our policy is completely legal, it’s completely moral’, says foreign secretary
Adam Forrest 14 June 2022 08:13
1655189385 Three more people to challenge their place on Rwanda flight in the courts today
Three more people, who are currently due to fly on the Home Office’s deportation flight to Rwanda, will make legal challenges before take-off today.
There are reportedly seven people still scheduled to be on the flight after dozens of asylum seekers won legal challenges and were removed.
A government source told the BBC that they “will do everything possible to keep people on the flight”.
They added: “Campaigners and opponent lawyers will be doing everything possible, exploiting every loophole, throwing in every spurious and meritless claim, to get their client dragged off the flight today.”
Holly Bancroft 14 June 2022 07:49
1655188638 Liz Truss: Rwanda flights policy is ‘completely moral'
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has defended the government’s policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda after senior bishops criticised it.
Ms Truss told Sky News that the plan was “completely moral”. She added that she did not agree with the bishops’ criticism, saying: “The people who are immoral in this case are the people traffickers trading in human misery.”
“Those people need to suggest an alternative policy that will work.
“Our policy is completely legal, it’s completely moral.
“What I’m saying to the critics of the policy who don’t have an alternative about how we deal with this illegal migration, is they don’t have an alternative, they are criticising our policy which is effective and does work.”
Holly Bancroft 14 June 2022 07:37
1655187780 Liz Truss: We are expecting to send Rwanda flight today
Foreign secretary Liz Truss has said that 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 whittled down by legal challenges.
Ms Truss said this morning that those criticising the policy need to come up with an alternative for dealing with illegal migration.
(EPA)
Holly Bancroft 14 June 2022 07:23
1655187356 Home Office source says deportation flight at risk of getting cancelled
Home Office sources revealed to the Guardian that there was a risk that the first deportation flight to Rwanda — carrying asylum seekers — could be cancelled after the legal challenges meant that fewer than 10 people were expected to be on board.
“I think it could be cancelled,” said a government source. “This is due to individual cases rather than a blanket challenge.”
One charity, Care4Calais, said on Monday there were fewer than eight.
Meanwhile, UNHCR has said that Rwanda does not have the capacity to process the claims, and that “there is a risk some migrants could be returned to countries from which they had fled.”
Maroosha Muzaffar 14 June 2022 07:15
1655186456 Government willing to fly even one asylum seeker to Rwanda, PM's spokesperson says
The number of asylum seekers on the first charter plane deporting them to Rwanda has dwindled from 130 to seven. However, Downing Street refused to rule out sending an entire charter plane with only one asylum seeker on board.
The refugee charity, Care4Calais group, said only seven people were approved for removal on Tuesday’s flight after successful individual challenges in recent days.
But the prime minister’s official spokesman said: “I’m not aware of there being a set limit.”
The Mirror reported that the spokesperson claimed that the current approach was costing taxpayers ￡1.5bn each year, including almost ￡5m a day accommodating asylum seekers in hotels.
Maroosha Muzaffar 14 June 2022 07:00
1655185856 Migrants will be treated with ‘safety, dignity and respect’, says Rwanda high commissioner
Rwanda’s high commissioner to the UK, Johnston Busingye, lashed out at the critics of the government’s plan to deport asylum seekers and said that they will be treated with “safety, dignity and respect.”
He said that his country will be a “safe haven” for them and that he was “disappointed” that critics had questioned Rwanda’s motives for agreeing to the scheme.
His comments came after it emerged that fewer than 10 migrants are expected to be on the first flight to Rwanda on Tuesday.
Maroosha Muzaffar 14 June 2022 06:50
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