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Added on the 14/06/2022 23:02:03 - Copyright : AFPTV - First images
A plane thought to be the one bound for Kigali as part of the UK government's controversial policy to send asylum seekers to Rwanda waits at the Boscombe Down military air field. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss insisted the first flight to Kigali, believed to be operated by Spanish charter firm Privilege Style, would take off, no matter how many people were on board. Only seven people are now due to be deported because of legal challenges and reviews of their cases -- well down on the 130 initially envisaged by the authorities. IMAGES
A plane set to carry asylum-seekers to Rwanda as part of a controversial UK policy is seen on the tarmac as the migrant rights group Care4Calais tweeted the flight is cancelled. IMAGES
Rwanda's Minister of Foreign Affairs Vincent Biruta says the country is "pleased to work with the UK" on a new partnership that would see asylum seekers and migrants who cross the Channel illegally sent thousands of miles away to Rwanda under a controversial deal as the British government tries to clamp down on record numbers of people making the perilous journey. SOUNDBITE from Rwanda's Minister of Foreign Affairs
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the UK and Rwanda are eyeing a new deal on asylum seekers, after Britain's highest court ruled that removing migrants to the African country was unlawful. "If it becomes clear that our domestic legal frameworks or international conventions are still frustrating plans at that point, I am prepared to change our laws and revisit those international relationships," he tells lawmakers during the weekly prime minister's questions in parliament. SOUNDBITE
Images outside UK Supreme Court in London ahead of a ruling on whether a controversial government plan to send migrants to Rwanda is lawful, which the Conservative government argues is crucial to reduce small boat arrivals across the Channel. IMAGES