A British court has approved highly controversial government-planned deportations to Rwanda of migrants who have entered the country illegally. In a summary ruling on Friday, Judge Jonathan Swift said it was “important in the public interest that the Home Office be able to make and implement decisions to control immigration.” The heir to the British throne, Prince Charles, denounced the project as “appalling”.
With its decision, the court rejected an urgent appeal by human rights organizations against the flights. The plaintiffs’ human rights organizations immediately appealed the decision, scheduled for Monday.
According to the government’s plans, the first flight of asylum seekers to Rwanda should take off on Tuesday. According to the Ministry of Interior, those affected have already been informed of their planned deportation. In Rwanda, they were to receive a “generous support package” that would include five years of education, housing and health care.
Tens of thousands on the relay list
In April, the British government presented its controversial plan to bring migrants to Rwanda based on an agreement between London and Kigali. This is to deter people from trying to enter the UK illegally. According to Prime Minister Boris Johnson, “tens of thousands” of asylum seekers and migrants could be brought to Rwanda.
According to a report in The Times, Prince Charles was “more than disappointed” by the British government’s immigration policy. “He said he thought the entire government’s approach was appalling,” the newspaper quoted a source close to him as saying.
A spokesman for the heir to the throne declined to comment on the news. He has only stated that the heir to the throne will remain “politically neutral”. Political matters are ‘government decisions’.
But Prime Minister Boris Johnson welcomed the court’s decision. “We cannot allow human traffickers to put lives at risk,” he said on Twitter.
In concluding the agreement, Johnson described Rwanda as “one of the safest countries in the world” that is globally recognized for “receiving and integrating” migrants. However, according to observers, the human rights situation in the East African country is not ideal. Activists accuse the government of prosecuting political opponents and homosexuals.
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