UK to send the 1st batch of asylum seekers to Rwanda on June 14
Despite the mounting backlash against Rwanda's plan, the UK is started to send formal letters to the 1st group of asylum seekers telling them they are being sent to Rwanda.
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Migrants in a dinghy navigate in the English Channel (AFP)
The UK announced that it plans to send the first group of asylum seekers to Rwanda in two weeks.
UK’s government claims that this step is part of a policy that aims at disrupting people-smuggling networks and stemming the flow of migrants across the Channel.
In April, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government declared plans to deport some asylum seekers in the United Kingdom to Rwanda, a plan that drew criticism from both within and outside Johnson's Conservative Party, as well as from many charities.
On its account, the Home Office said, on Tuesday, that 1st group of asylum seekers has started to receive formal letters telling them they are being sent to Rwanda to "rebuild their lives in safety".
In a statement, Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel said that "the Removal Direction confirms that they will be going to Rwanda and when”, adding that "the first flight is expected to take place next month, on the 14th of June."
The number of asylum seekers on the first flight to Rwanda was not disclosed by the Home Office, according to Reuters.
The plan to send unwanted asylum seekers to Africa comes as Johnson faces the growing threat of a confidence vote, with some of his lawmakers saying they have lost faith in his leadership as a result of party gate scandals.
The UK has sacked criticism that the policy is inhumane, claiming that it is worse to encourage a system in which many asylum seekers are exploited by people smugglers.
