Britain has sent its first illegal immigrant to Rwanda, starting a controversial plan, British media reported on Tuesday evening.
Britain passed a law last week that allows the government to deport immigrants who have entered the UK illegally to Rwanda. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s government planned to begin deportations to Rwanda by July.
The man, who left Britain on Monday, had agreed to be sent to Kigali after his asylum claim was rejected, several media reported. He is a citizen of an African country and flew on a commercial flight.
The man is expected to receive up to 3,000 British pounds for agreeing to leave Britain, government news sources quoted by The Times newspaper said.
The British government announced on Tuesday that it plans to deport 5,700 illegal immigrants to Rwanda this year who are already in Britain and whom Rwanda has agreed to accept “in principle”.
Those illegal immigrants who arrived in Great Britain between January 2022 and June last year and whose asylum requests are recognized as inadmissible will be deported to Rwanda, the Ministry of the Interior said.
According to official statistics, over 57,000 immigrants crossed the English Channel illegally during this 18-month period.
London plans to send some of them to Rwanda, which will process their asylum claims.
If the requests are granted, they will be able to stay in Rwanda, but will not be allowed to return to the UK.
