BRITAIN has removed the first failed asylum seeker to Rwanda, The Sun can reveal.
The unnamed migrant was flown out of the UK on Monday evening and was unpacking his bags for a new life in sunny Kigali yesterday.
It is the first time the government has ever relocated a failed asylum seeker to a third country with which they have no previous links in what ministers are hoping is the first of thousands.
After his bid to stay in Britain was rejected at the end of 2023, the man - who is of African origin - voluntarily accepted passage to a new life in the central African nation.
He was sent on a commercial flight and handed around £3,000 from the British taxpayer to help relocate under the terms of a deal with Rwanda.
The removal was part of a side scheme to the forced deportation of illegal immigrants policy that is set to begin flights in July.
But there were sighs of relief in Whitehall last night that the first removal and Rwandan processing went off without a hitch - in what planners have dubbed a “proof of concept” success.
A well-placed source said: “This proves it's possible and legal for Britain to remove failed asylum seekers to Rwanda successfully and smoothly.”
By HARRY COLE, Political Editor
THIS is the first time in British history that the government has removed a failed asylum seeker from Britain to a third country with which they have no previous links - and that’s going to have huge and significant repercussions for the legality and the operational success of the Rwanda scheme.
Rwanda has become a totemic policy for the government. It’s the centre of all of their migration deterrent policies.
But commentators, lawyers, opposition MPs and even the government’s own MPs have said this scheme couldn’t happen.
There was once upon a time ministers, including Rishi Sunak, were trying to kill the scheme and saying it wouldn’t be value for money.
So this is a really important moment for the government and it couldn’t have come at a better time, really, for Mr Sunak on the eve of the May local elections, when he’s possibly facing rebellion from the right-wing of his party.
To show that this policy can work in action is a significant moment by anyone’s book.
Last time they tried to send someone to Rwanda, a flight was grounded on the tarmac by the Strasbourg court and an emergency injunction was granted by the ECHR. That stopped the flights going.
This tonight proves that it can be done in theory and in principle.
In March, the Home Office confirmed the voluntary relocation plan for anyone caught in Britain with no right to be here.
They said then that Rwanda stood “ready to accept people who wish to rebuild their lives and cannot stay in the UK.”
The side deal is for those who have already gone through the asylum process here and been refused permission to stay rather than Channel migrants who enter illegally.
Last year 19,000 migrants were voluntarily removed from the UK, after being told they would never get the rights of legal migrants such as the right to work.
But there are tens of thousands still in the system who cannot be sent back to their home countries due to fears of persecution.
Ministers argue it is better and cheaper to send them to Rwanda than support them here - even after offering them cash and a one way ticket to a new life.
HOME Secretary James Cleverly will answer your questions on Wednesday's episode of Never Mind The Ballots.
Submit your questions for the top Cabinet Minister by emailing [email protected].
And watch the packed political show from 7pm on YouTube and on mcb777.site.
Last week the King rubber stamped the Safety of Rwanda Act that overrode concerns from the Court of Appeal that said the country had a dodgy human rights record and should not be considered safe.
After months of Parliamentary back and forth, it wrote into law that Rwanda was safe for deportation despite the court rulings to the contrary.
However ministers are braced for a slew of legal appeals ahead of the first forced deportation flight expected within the next 11 weeks.
This proves its possible and legal for Britain to remove failed asylum seekers to Rwanda successfully and smoothly
Well-placed source
There are concerns the European Court on Human Rights will step in with temporary injunctions to ground any flights - but it's hoped Monday’s successful removal and processing will put scotch to critics who said it could never be done.
Last night a Government spokesman said: "We are now able to send asylum seekers to Rwanda under our migration and economic development partnership.
"This deal allows people with no immigration status in the UK to be relocated to a safe third country where they will be supported to rebuild their lives.”
Downing Street and the Home Office have repeatedly stated they would not be giving a “running commentary on operational matters” relating to Rwanda in a bid to see off an army of lefty-lawyers and charities hellbent on grounding the flights.
A week ago, the PM warned "Enough is enough. No more prevarication, no more delay. No ifs, no buts. These flights are going to Rwanda."
This article, now amended, did not originally make clear that this was the first time a failed asylum seeker had been removed to a third country to which they had no previous links. Further, it was incorrect to say that 19,000 failed asylum seekers were voluntarily removed from the UK last year; in fact, most of those removed were not failed asylum seekers. This has been corrected.
THE first migrant to be sent to Rwanda has gone voluntarily this week after their asylum claim failed.
Rather than being returned to their home country, they have opted to use a new Home Office scheme to start a new life in Kigali.
It is a parallel plan to Rishi Sunak's flagship immigration one to physically deport illegal arrivals.
Under this policy, illegal migrants will have no choice about being deported to Rwanda. Here are the details...
What is the Rwanda plan?
Under the flagship immigration plan, anyone who arrives in Britain illegally will never have the right to remain permanently.
For those who cannot be returned to their home country, ministers plan to send them to Rwanda, a country in eastern Africa.
The government believes the threat of being removed to Rwanda will deter migrants from making the dangerous Channel crossing in small boats.
Once in Rwanda, their asylum claims will be processed but there is no route back to the UK, save for some exceptional circumstances such as individual safety concerns.
Britain will also pay for migrants to start a new life in Rwanda for the first five years.
What’s the hold up?
First announced by Boris Johnson in 2022, the scheme has been bogged down by relentless legal challenges.
The first flight was due to take off in the summer of that year, but was blocked on the runway at the last minute by a European Court order.
Since then the legality of the plan has been contested in the courts, culminating in a Supreme Court judgement in November last year which said Rwanda was unsafe for asylum seekers.
What is Sunak doing?
To salvage the Rwanda plan from the Supreme Court’s scathing ruling, Rishi Sunak has unveiled a two-pronged workaround.
First, he has signed a new treaty with Rwanda to beef up protections for asylum seekers that have been enshrined in law.
Second, he has introduced new legislation that declares Rwanda a safe country.
It means courts, police and officials would have to treat Rwanda as safe and therefore throw out legal challenges to deportation.
He has given ministers the power to ignore European grounding orders to avoid a repeat of the 2022 runway fiasco.
When will flights take off?
Five months after the Supreme Court appeared to have sunk the Rwanda plan, it is now back on track.
Mr Sunak insists both Britain and Rwanda are ready for the first flights to take off in July to kickstart a “regular rhythm” of planes.
The process of detaining those migrants earmarked for the first flights has now begun, although the Home Office is remaining tight-lipped over how they have been selected.
Will it work?
The Safety of Rwanda Act is the third piece of legislation designed to stop small boats in two years.
Mr Sunak is confident that this one is finally tough enough to make deportations to Kigali a viable threat, and therefore deter illegal migrants making the dangerous Channel crossing.
One thing for certain is that an army of lawyers are gearing up to launch legal challenges on behalf of those individuals scheduled for removal.
The threshold they have to meet is that migrants face a risk of “serious and irreversible harm” by being sent to Kigali.
Ministers previously insisted that the Safety of Rwanda Act would force courts to throw out around 95 per cent of all claims.
Time will tell if the legislation is as watertight as they hope - and whether it proves to be an effective deterrent for those considering piling into small boats.
