THE PRIME Minister has admitted “a lot of teething problems” with controversial plans to send refugees to Rwanda – ahead of a second legal case to block the move.
Boris Johnson has defended the policy, claiming the move is necessary to stop illegal people-smuggling rackets on either side of the Channel.
But the UK Government has received huge criticism for the proposals, including reportedly from Prince Charles.
The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), which represents more than 80 per cent of Border Force staff, and charities Care4Calais and Detention Action will challenge in the Court of Appeal today at the High Court’s ruling on Friday that the first flight to the east African country can go ahead.
A second case is due to be heard in the High Court after Asylum Aid, a refugee charity, applied for an urgent interim injunction to stop the UK Government flying migrants to Rwanda.
READ MORE: Campaigners lose High Court bid to halt migrants being sent to Rwanda
It came as Care4Calais said that 11 of 31 migrants in a UK detention facility originally notified by the Home Office that they would be on the maiden Rwanda flight have since had their tickets cancelled.
Speaking to broadcasters, the Prime Minister said: “I always said that it will begin with a lot of teething problems and you will have a lot of legal action against it and they will try and delay it – that’s inevitable.
“But what we’re trying to do is stop the business model of criminal gangs who are preying on people moving them across the Channel in unseaworthy vessels, risking their lives and sometimes costing their lives.”
It came as Rwandan high commissioner Johnston Busingye told The Telegraph that his country will be a “safe haven” for migrants, after The Times and the Daily Mail reported that the Prince of Wales allegedly said in private that the policy is “appalling”.
Mr Busingye, writing in the paper, said “the Rwanda of today is unrecognisable from the country the world was introduced to” during the Rwandan genocide in 1994.
Mr Johnson declined to comment on whether Prince Charles was wrong in his comments, adding: “This is about making sure that we break the business model of criminal gangs who are not only risking people’s lives but undermining public confidence in legal migration.”
Home Secretary Priti Patel has said the “vast majority” of those who arrive in the UK through means deemed “illegal” – such as on unauthorised boats or stowed away in lorries – will be considered for relocation.
It is understood that adults will be prioritised for relocation under the scheme, with officials insisting families arriving in the UK will not be split up.
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