Rwanda: First Flight Delayed - 52,000 Asylum Seekers to Be Processed Abroad, but Not Anytime Soon
The Rwanda bill, which allows the UK to send asylum seekers to be processed in Rwanda, has been approved by Parliament after two years of legal battles and political wrangling.
The first flight to Rwanda is not expected to take off soon.
The quickest a flight could theoretically leave is 12 days after the bill receives royal assent, but in practice, it is likely to be later - around 10 to 12 weeks, or late June or early July.
Mr. Sunak admitted on Monday that the UK government would miss its Spring deadline for sending asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, acknowledging that the process would take time.
The individuals in question are those who have arrived in the UK without authorization from a safe country and have sought asylum.
Approximately 52,000 people fall into this category.
The decision on whether they are genuine refugees or not will be made in Rwanda as part of the plan.
The text describes a group of people who are currently living in Home Office-funded accommodation in the UK while they wait for their asylum cases to be heard.
They are not allowed to work during this time.
The government is not planning to deport them all immediately, and it would take over three years to remove them even if the Home Office reaches its previous record of 15,000 forced deportations per year.
However, this number has dropped significantly due to departmental cuts and Brexit, and is currently at 5,000 deportations per year.
The quickest a flight could theoretically leave is 12 days after the bill receives royal assent, but in practice, it is likely to be later - around 10 to 12 weeks, or late June or early July.
Mr. Sunak admitted on Monday that the UK government would miss its Spring deadline for sending asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, acknowledging that the process would take time.
The individuals in question are those who have arrived in the UK without authorization from a safe country and have sought asylum.
Approximately 52,000 people fall into this category.
The decision on whether they are genuine refugees or not will be made in Rwanda as part of the plan.
The text describes a group of people who are currently living in Home Office-funded accommodation in the UK while they wait for their asylum cases to be heard.
They are not allowed to work during this time.
The government is not planning to deport them all immediately, and it would take over three years to remove them even if the Home Office reaches its previous record of 15,000 forced deportations per year.
However, this number has dropped significantly due to departmental cuts and Brexit, and is currently at 5,000 deportations per year.