Boris Johnson says he is confident of legality of Rwanda migrant plan

Boris Johnson says he is confident of legality of Rwanda migrant plan
June 18, 2022, 6:32 pm

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson (Photo: Official Facebook page)

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson says he is confident of the legality of the government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. It comes as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) blocked the first flight this week.

On Saturday, Mr Johnson described the decision as a “weird last-minute hiccup”, The National news reported.

Mr Johnson said: “Every single court in this country said there was no obstacle that they could see. No court in this country ruled the policy unlawful which was very, very encouraging."

“We are very confident in the legality, the lawfulness of what we are doing and we are going to pursue the policy.”

Home Secretary Priti Patel described the decision as “scandalous”, The National news said.

Irregular migrants caught by the UK Coast Border Guard are brought to the Port of Dover in Dover, United Kingdom on April 16, 2022. Britain announced that irregular migrants caught trying to cross from France to England will be sent to Rwanda.

The flight carrying migrants to Rwanda was grounded on Tuesday when the ECHR stepped in after British courts ruled the plane could take off.

“The opaque way this court has operated is scandalous,” Ms Patel said in an interview with The Telegraph newspaper published on Saturday (June 18). “Right now, our job is to find ways to overturn that.”

All people on the plane were removed when the flight did not take off as scheduled.

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The British government’s disputed £120 million plan has been called catastrophic by the UN refugee chief, the leadership of the Church of England denounced it as immoral and shameful, and media have reported Prince Charles privately described the plan as “appalling”.

The government, including Ms Patel and Mr Johnson, said the Rwanda policy will be pursued.

On Tuesday morning, a 200-seat Boeing 767 aircraft operated by Spanish airline Privilege Style arrived in the UK, ready to transport the asylum seekers at a cost to the British taxpayer of up to £500,000.

ECHR receives 5 more applications from UK refugees to halt their deportatoin to Rwanda

Ministers had originally planned for up to 130 people to board the plane but the number dropped to seven following a series of appeals.

Source: thenational

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