Deportation Flights To Rwanda Set To Take Off In July

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the first flights deporting asylum-seekers to Rwanda will take off in 10-12 weeks, failing to meet the government's initial target for flights taking off in the spring.

Sunak gave a press conference on Monday morning, ahead of the Government's contentious Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Bill returning to the Commons today – where the Government hopes it will pass, but is likely to continue in a 'ping-pong' process between the Commons and Lords throughout Monday night.

Meanwhile, the government published the latest small boat arrivals statistics showing that between January and April this year the number has increased by 24 per cent from the same period last year – up to 6,265 from 5,049.

"The first flight will leave in 10 to 12 weeks," Sunak stated.

"Now of course that is later than we wanted, but we have always been clear that processing will take time.

"And if Labour peers had not spent weeks holding up the bill in the House of Lords to try to block these flights altogether, we would have begun this process weeks ago." 

Sunak said that political opponents had "used every trick in the book to block flights and keep the boats coming”, but insisted that “no ifs, no buts, these flights are going to Rwanda".

The Prime Minister said that he would deem success to be "when the boats are stopped" and that this would take more than one flight to Rwanda.

"[Success] rests on the relentless continual process of successfully and permanently removing people to Rwanda with a regular rhythm of multiple flights every month, over the summer and beyond until the boats are stopped," he said.

Sunak confirmed the Government has an airfield on standby and has now booked commercial charter planes