The first flight of illegal migrants destined for transfer from the United Kingdom to Rwanda has been postponed, as part of the disputed agreement reached by the Johnson government with Kigali, which envisages sending back a part of the “illegal immigrants” to the African country awaiting a response on their asylum requests on the island. The flight that was supposed to leave yesterday evening, with a contingent limited to 7 immigrants remaining on the initial Home Office list, was stopped on the basis of a suspension granted by the European Court of Human Rights in the face of last-minute appeals. Suspensive that the British judges had denied.
According to estimates by the British Ministry of the Interior itself, the flight would have cost 500 thousand pounds, including the reception of the expelled in the African country. The decision comes as a blow to Boris Johnson and his home secretary, Priti Patel, who had hoped to discourage asylum seekers from crossing the Channel by ensuring they send thousands of irregular migrants to Rwanda. Executive ministers promise that the expulsion program to Rwanda will resume soon, but it is not known when.
The British government’s plan has sparked major controversy at home, but Boris Johnson has always defended it, despite firm opposition, for example, from the Church of England. The Archbishop of Canterbury called it “immoral” and “aberrant”, asking the government, on the contrary, for safe corridors for migrants in the Channel and asylum seekers. Even the heir to the throne, Prince Charles, according to rumors of the newspapers that have obtained his private conversations, would have called this policy of the British executive “shocking”.