A law to pave the way for sending asylum seekers to Rwanda if
they arrived in Britain without permission was approved by
parliament in April, and Sunak wants the first flights to take
off in July.
More than 7,500 migrants have arrived in England on small boats
from France so far this year, and the government says the policy
will deter people from making dangerous journey across the
Channel. Five people died trying to make the crossing last week.
Human rights charities and unions opposed to the policy are
expected to launch fresh legal challenges to stop the flights
from taking off after the UK Supreme Court declared the policy
unlawful last year.
Images released by Britain's interior ministry on Wednesday
showed a man being put in a van by immigration enforcement
officials, and another being led out of his house in handcuffs.
"Our dedicated enforcement teams are working at pace to swiftly
detain those who have no right to be here so we can get flights
off the ground," interior minister James Cleverly said in a
statement on Wednesday.
Care4Calais, a refugee charity, said the detentions had started
on Monday.
A spokesperson said that the group's helpline had received calls
from "tens of people", adding that they still did not know who
would be earmarked for the first deportation flight, or when it
would be attempted.
Britain sent its first asylum seeker to Rwanda under a voluntary
scheme, The Sun Newspaper reported on Tuesday, a separate
programme to the deportation policy.
"People are very frightened," said Natasha Tsangarides,
Associate Director of Advocacy at charity Freedom from Torture,
saying the fear of being detained and sent to Rwanda would push
some people to go underground and disengage with their support
system.
(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar and Sarah Young; editing by
Michael Holden)
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