If the first Rwanda charter flight is stymied by a slew of legal obstacles today, Priti Patel may be compelled to release migrants from jail.
Up to 130 foreign people have been detained in immigration detention centers after being informed that they had been picked for the maiden flight on Tuesday.
However, if legal action in the High Court is successful, even if only temporarily, they will most likely be released and either tagged with electronic tags or ordered to report to reporting centers on a regular basis.
Foreign nationals can only be detained if they have a “realistic prospect” of being removed from the country, according to existing legislation.
An injunction has been sought to stop the flight by a group of NGOs and a trade union that represents thousands of UK Border Force personnel. In a case scheduled for a preliminary hearing today, they are also seeking judicial review of the policy.
Asylum Aid issued another challenge late last night. It is requesting an urgent High Court injunction to halt all removal flights until a full judicial review of the policy is completed.
The Home Secretary claims that the £120 million Rwanda contract will save lives in the Channel and ultimately disrupt the business model of human traffickers.
‘We remain confident in our position, and should legal challenges force us to go to court, we will plead our case,’ said the Prime Minister’s official spokesman yesterday.
In the Commons, Tory MP Peter Bone asked for new legislation that would allow deportations to Rwanda to be carried out ‘quickly’ if the measures were halted by the courts. Home Secretary Sajid Javid was ‘dedicated’ to combating cross-Channel smuggling, according to Commons Leader Mark Spencer.
Earlier this week, the Public and Commercial Services union, along with the charities Care4Calais and Detention Action, filed an application for a High Court order.
Duncan Lewis Solicitors, the law company representing them, has a long history of challenging government immigration policies.
Asylum Aid filed two separate challenges yesterday, with a legal team that included several barristers from Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer’s previous chambers, Doughty Street.
The charity has asked that their case be heard alongside the one scheduled for today.
‘This Government’s attempt to penalise vulnerable people seeking asylum because it doesn’t approve of how they arrived on our shores is just unconstitutional,’ said CEO Kerry Smith.
Yesterday, the Law Society stated unequivocally that it opposes the Rwanda model. The program looked to violate the Refugee Convention, and the selection of migrants for the scheme may be ‘discriminatory,’ according to the attorneys’ professional association.
‘Irregular migrants’ – those who came by small boats or on the back of trucks – would be given a one-way ticket to Kigali, Rwanda’s capital.
They will apply for asylum there rather than in the UK, with help from the British taxpayer. The Rwanda approach, according to several senior authorities, is “unique and divisive.”