Border force brought 50 more migrants to UK shores today from two boats they picked up in the Channel.
The latest arrivals, which included women and young children, attempted the dangerous crossing despite Boris Johnson’s scheme to process asylum seekers in Rwanda being designed to discourage them.
It is thought that they were hurrying to make the crossing in order to beat the cut off point before the Rwanda scheme begins.
Mr Johnson told the Daily Mail that the first 50 ‘illegal entrants into this country’ have already been served notice that they will be sent to the African nation within a fortnight.
He added: ‘There’s going to be a lot of legal opposition from the types of firms that for a long time have been taking taxpayers’ money to mount these sorts of cases, and to thwart the will of the people, the will of Parliament. We’re ready for that.
‘We will dig in for the fight and you know, we will make it work. We’ve got a huge flowchart of things we have to do to deal with it, with the leftie lawyers.’
Asked if he might respond with a review of the European Convention on Human Rights, Mr Johnson he said: ‘We’ll look at everything. Nothing is off the table.’
Despite the continued crossings, there is a hope the scheme will soon deter further people from making Channel crossings.
Appearing before the House of Commons’ Home Affairs Committee this morning, Tom Pursglove – the minister for tackling illegal migration – stated his belief that there would be a ‘deterrent effect’ from the scheme.
And he also hinted there could be further such deals to come.
Prior to the Rwanda deal being signed, the Home Office was reported to have considered similar agreements that would see asylum seekers processed in other countries such as Albania and Ghana.
Meanwhile, Denmark is currently holding talks with Rwanda over setting up its own scheme to transfer asylum seekers to the African country.
Under the UK’s £120m Rwanda scheme with Kigali, any adult who enters the UK illegally can now be sent on a one-way ticket to Rwanda to have an asylum claim processed.
The plans have been touted by ministers as a means of clamping down on migrants making perilous journeys across the Channel in small boats.