Description
"Rwanda is ready," says interior minister after visiting settlements around Kigali Suella Braverman plans to deport the migrants to Rwanda by the summer, while the Kigali government has said it is "ready to absorb the thousands that will come from the UK". A Home Office source said "we are certainly working to get the flights off the ground before the summer", adding that the Home Secretary acknowledged the timing depended on ongoing legal battles.
In her first trip to the Central African country as home minister, Braverman visited the facility being built on Saturday to house people deported from Britain.
Braverman shakes hands with Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta in Kigali
Speaking to reporters in the country's capital, he said he would await a hearing in the Court of Appeals on the policy next month before deciding whether the flights could leave by the summer.
The government has extended the agreement with Rwanda to include all those who enter the UK illegally, rather than just asylum seekers.
The addendum to the agreement must be implemented to ensure that people who enter illegally are immediately detained and deported under the Illegal Immigration Bill, regardless of the claim they make, be it asylum, human rights, modern slavery or nothing.
No migrants have been transferred to the country so far after the deal was signed last April by Braverman's predecessor, Priti Patel, and several people from countries including Iran, Iraq and Syria have launched protests against plans to send them there.
Braverman visits a migrant housing construction site on the outskirts of Kigali
After Saturday's tour of potential housing facilities, Ms Braverman said: "I think Rwanda is clearly ready."
The migrants arriving from Royaume-Uni will be logged in the auberges and the hotels in court terme, ahead of the passer-by to the lodges in long term, with the owners' teams of gardens, parking lots for voirie and a capacity for high debt par optical fiber.
Asked if the migration deal affected Britain's ability to criticize the country on other issues, such as human rights, Braverman said there was a "very misperception of Rwanda in the UK" and that it was an "economy dynamic and forward-looking" and a safe country.
Rwandan government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo told reporters she "did not see living in Rwanda as a punishment", adding that the African nation signed the deal for "the right reasons".
Braverman visits a newly built house with Rwandan Minister Claudette Irere
She said: “We are going to be ready to absorb the thousands of people who will come from the UK during the life of this partnership. We are determined to make it a success.
The interior minister will meet President Paul Kagame to discuss the deal, after meeting his Rwandan counterpart Vincent Biruta on Saturday.
Legal challenges against the government bill are expected and practical questions are raised about where people can be sent when the only deals reached have been with Albania and Rwanda.
Braverman said his visit showed him Rwanda was 'ready'
Ms Braverman said the Home Office believes Rwanda has the necessary capacity, but "we are still in a constructive dialogue with many countries around the world."
In response to the criticism, he said: "Our program is compliant with international law, it is compliant with the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and it is compliant with the Refugee Convention." But he repeated the threat to remove Britain from the ECHR if necessary.
The visit came as 209 people were confirmed to have crossed the English Channel in small boats on Friday, after five days with no reported crossings.
Additional Press Association reports
PA wire
Pennsylvania
Access
