The UK government has announced that it could begin deporting asylum-seekers to Rwanda in the coming months, but only if UK courts approve the controversial policy. The Home Office has

stated that it hopes to start flights “before the summer,” as Home Secretary Suella Braverman visited Rwanda to reinforce the Conservative government’s commitment to the plan. During her visit to the Rwandan capital, Kigali, Braverman met with President Paul Kagame and Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, visited accommodation intended to house deportees from the UK, and laid a brick at another housing development for migrants. The project is expected to build more than 1,000 houses.

“I have thoroughly enjoyed seeing firsthand the rich opportunities this country can provide to relocated people through our partnership,” Braverman said.

Rwanda has said it will offer migrants “the opportunity to build new lives in a safe, secure place through accommodation, education, and vocational training.” The country’s government spokeswoman, Yolande Makolo, told reporters that Rwanda is ready to receive thousands of migrants from the UK, adding that she does not consider living in Rwanda “a punishment.” She said Rwanda is determined to make the agreement a success.

Almost a year ago, the UK and Rwanda struck a deal under which some migrants who arrive in the UK in small boats would be flown to Rwanda, where their asylum claims would be processed. Those granted asylum would stay in Rwanda rather than return to the UK. The UK government argues that the policy will smash the business model of people-smuggling gangs and deter migrants from taking risky journeys across the English Channel. However, the £140m plan is mired in legal challenges, and no one has yet been sent to Rwanda.

In December, the High Court ruled the policy was legal, but a group of asylum-seekers from countries including Iran, Iraq, and Syria has been granted permission to appeal. Human rights groups cite Rwanda’s poor human rights record, and argue it’s inhumane to send people more than 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometers) to a country they don’t want to live in.

The government has also drafted legislation that would bar anyone who arrives in the UK in small boats or by other unauthorized means from applying for asylum. If passed by Parliament, the Illegal Migration Bill would compel the government to detain all such arrivals and deport them to their homeland or a “safe third country” such as Rwanda. However, the UN refugee agency says the law breaches UK commitments under the international refugee convention.

Braverman has faced criticism for inviting only selected media on her taxpayer-funded trip to Rwanda. Journalists from right-leaning outlets including The Times and The Telegraph newspapers and television channel GB News were invited, while the BBC and the left-leaning Guardian newspaper were not. Photo by Jonathan Serex, Wikimedia commons.