UK Government Targets July 23 for Asylum Seekers Deportation

The British government plans to start deporting asylum seekers on July 23, 2024, contingent on the Conservative Party winning the upcoming election. The policy, championed by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, faces legal and parliamentary hurdles. Sunak has pledged to initiate deportation flights shortly after the election, but trails Labour in polls.

The British government says it intends to begin deporting asylum seekers on July 23, court documents showed on Monday, although the controversial scheme is dependent on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative parties winning the upcoming election.

The policy of sending asylum seekers who arrived in Britain to the East African nation is one of Sunak's flagship policies but legal and parliamentary obstacles have meant it has never got off the ground. Sunak recently said the deportation flights would not leave before an election on July 4 but he has promised if he wins they would begin soon after, although he is trailing the opposition Labour Party by about 20 points in opinion polls and it has promised to scrap the plan.

In documents submitted to the London High Court as part of a charity's challenged to the policy, government lawyers said the intention was "to effect removals with a flight to Rwanda on 23 July 2024 (and not before)."