Government sets new date for Rwanda removals amid High Court challenge

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

The Government has told the High Court that it now plans to begin removals to Rwanda in late July after it previously told a judge that flights would not take off until after the General Election.

Late last month, judge Mr Justice Chamberlain ordered the Cabinet Office and Home Office to tell the court the earliest date they planned to start removals.

The order was made in the context of a challenge brought by the FDA trade union, with Government lawyers telling the judge on May 29 that it “does not intend to carry out enforced removals to Rwanda before the General Election on July 4 2024”.

At the start of a hearing on Monday in a challenge brought by charity Asylum Aid, the High Court in London heard the first flight is now planned for July 24.

Edward Brown KC, for the Home Office, said in written submissions: “The defendant confirms that he intends to effect removals with a flight to Rwanda on July 23 2024, and not before.”

However, later in the hearing, Mr Brown said the first flight is now set to depart on July 24 after an “operational update”.

Mr Justice Chamberlain said the Home Office “has said a number of things” about when the first flight is set to be.

He added that the legal challenges are “all going to be subject to the outcome of the General Election … but we obviously can’t make any predictions about that”.

The judge continued: “There is a public interest in the determination of these issues … before the earliest date on which flights may be.”

Mr Justice Chamberlain said a four-day hearing in a case brought by an individual asylum seeker could take place the week after the General Election.

In the legal action brought by the FDA union, the judge previously said the Government had provided “insufficient clarity” about when the flights were due to begin, prompting the order.

Asylum Aid is bringing legal action, claiming that the Safety of Rwanda policy unlawfully tells decision-makers not to consider the risk of Rwanda sending a person to a third country where they would be at risk of torture, death, or other human rights abuse.

Lawyers for the charity will now need to be given the green light by a judge to bring the full challenge, with the Home Office describing parts of the claim as “unarguable”.