The UK expects the first deportation flights to Rwanda to take place in early July

London:

The British government has told the High Court in London that it expects the first deportation flights to Rwanda to take place between July 1 and 15, a judge said on Friday.

Judge Martin Chamberlain has released the dates as he set a hearing for the upcoming legal challenge to the controversial policy of the FDA, which represents public servants and civil servants.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said on April 22 that he expected the first flights to depart within “10 to 12 weeks,” but did not give a specific date.

The proposed dates for the first flights coincide with Rwanda’s presidential and parliamentary elections on July 15.

The FDA wants a judicial review of a recently passed law declaring the East African country safe, despite a UK Supreme Court ruling that said the removals were illegal.

The union wants clarification on whether the Rwanda Security (Asylum and Immigration) Act is compatible with the Civil Service Act.

By law, politically neutral UK civil servants are legally obligated to “uphold the rule of law and the administration of justice”.

The new law allows ministers to ignore parts of national and international human rights law when deciding on deportations, as well as any Rule 39 injunctions issued by the European Court of Human Rights.

The FDA says this would create a potential conflict.

“Public employees should never be left in a position where there is a conflict between ministerial instructions and compliance with the Civil Service Act,” said FDA Secretary General Dave Penman.

“But that is exactly what the government decided to do,” he said on Wednesday when submitting the judicial review application.

Judge Chamberlain ruled that the FDA challenge would be held over the course of one day in the first week of June.

“This stems from the allegation that some government officials believed, or were advised, that it would be contrary to their terms and conditions to comply with a ministerial decision to proceed with deportations in Rwanda in the face of Rule 39 action,” he added. He said. .

He added that there was a “strong public interest in determining this claim before the point at which any mitigation under Rule 39 could be indicated.”

Rwanda’s Conservative government policy is designed to deter large numbers of migrants trying to cross the Channel into the UK from northern France in small boats.

This week it said it had begun detaining rejected asylum seekers with the aim of deporting them to Rwanda, sparking protests.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)