- Author, Ruth Comerford
- Role, BBC News
The last two migrants still detained and awaiting deportation to Rwanda will be released on bail in the coming days, the government said.
The interior minister’s spokesman also revealed that another 218 migrants had been released on bail from detention centres by the previous government during the election campaign.
They were due to be deported to the central and east African country as part of former prime minister Rishi Sunak’s policy to tackle illegal immigration.
On his first full day as prime minister, Sir Keir Starmer confirmed that the Rwanda expulsion plan was “dead and buried”.
At his first press conference since entering 10 Downing Street, the Prime Minister told reporters that the plan had “never been a deterrent” because it would deport “less than 1%” of those arriving in small boats.
Dozens of asylum seekers were detained from late April after Rishi Sunak said flights would leave in the first weeks of July.
Under the Conservative government, the Home Office refused to confirm the number of people detained in Rwanda.
The BBC has now learned that a total of 220 people have been arrested with the intention of being sent to Rwanda under the scheme.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper has said she would like to see the recruitment of a new “border security commander” take place in the summer, and a new border security bill included in the King’s first speech.
A spokesman for the interior minister said Rwanda’s plan was “an extortion ploy.”
“If the last prime minister had believed this would work, he would not have called an election before a flight took off.
“During the election campaign, the previous government released on bail 218 people who were detained pending repatriation to Rwanda. Currently, only two people remain in detention. They will be released on bail in the coming days.”
They also confirmed that plans were underway to strengthen the National Crime Agency’s capacity to track down criminal gangs involved in human trafficking.
The financial implications of abandoning the Rwandan program and the total bill for the taxpayer are not yet known.
Questions still remain over the fate of the 52,000 Channel migrants in the UK who are under threat of deportation.
The Labour Party’s manifesto pledged to curb the flow of small boats through the Channel by hiring investigators and using counter-terrorism powers to “crush” criminal gangs of people smugglers.
The new government has made illegal immigration one of its top priorities, but has not yet revealed the full details of its agenda.
