Dozens of migrants in Britain’s asylum system have received notification from the Home Office over the past fortnight warning them of possible removal to a “safe third country” as the government pushes to get its contentious Rwanda plan off the ground.
Migrants — most of whom have been in the asylum system for months or even years — were warned in the documents, copies of which were seen by the Financial Times, that if their claim was deemed “inadmissible”, immigration officers may “consider whether there are any other safe third countries where you would be safe and which agree to admit you”.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has made “stopping the boats” — a reference to the crossing of the English Channel by migrants — one of his top pre-election pledges. The plan to remove some migrants to Rwanda is the centrepiece of his plan as ministers believe it would act as a big deterrent.