Boris Johnson has abandoned his aim to send the first asylum-seekers to Rwanda this month, in the first sign of the controversial deportation plan hitting trouble.
When the “one way ticket” agreement was signed last month, No 10 said it expected the first flights to the central African state to take off within “weeks” and before the end of May.
But Mr Johnson’s spokesman said it would be a “matter of months” before any would-be refugees crossing the Channel are deported – potentially after the peak summer season for crossings.
Asked why the timetable is “slipping”, the spokesperson pointed to legal challenges against the policy – while also insisting court action would not put it “on hold”.
Experts had poured scorn on Mr Johnson’s claim that the scheme could start almost immediately, some doubting whether any migrants and refugees will ever be sent to Rwanda.
The spokesman acknowledged that the legal action is not “unexpected” and described it as only “one of the variables” affecting hopes for the scheme.
“We are working to get the first flights moving – I don’t know definitely what timescale that will be,” he added.
After an 11-day pause amid bad weather, around 550 people have crossed from France in small boats in the last two days, scotching claims by some Tory MPs that the Rwanda threat is already acting as a deterrent.
The prime minister has argued legal powers already exist to allow asylum-seekers to be sent to Rwanda, but critics argue it breaches both the European Convention on Human Rights and the Geneva Convention.
Although it was initially briefed that only single men would be flown out, the home secretary Priti Patel has since admitted that women and children could also be sent.
She has also refused to reveal the likely colossal cost of the policy, beyond an initial £120m to be handed to Rwanda under the “partnership” deal.
The plan has also embroiled the prime minister in a damaging row with the Church of England, after the Archbishop of Canterbury attacked it as anti-Christian.
The Home Office’s top civil servant warned Ms Patel that there is no evidence to back up the claim that deporting refugees to Rwanda will curb trafficking across the Channel.
Mr Johnson’s spokesman acknowledged no evidence had been put forward, but told The Independent: “This is an entirely new approach. We were upfront about that from the start.”
Asked if the prime minister was disappointed at the Rwanda threat failing to deter crossings, he replied: “It’s too early to judge what the situation will be long term on this policy.”
And he said: “We still aim to have the first flights leave in a matter of months but, because of some of those [legal] challenges, it’s hard to put an exact time on it.”
This year, 7,240 people have reached the UK after crossing from France in small boats – more than three times the number recorded for the same period in 2021 (2,390), according to an analysis by PA news agency.
