First migrants set for Rwanda flights detained in house raids

Migrants earmarked for deportation on the first flights to Rwanda have been detained in an operation by immigration enforcement officers. The migrants have been picked up in raids by officers in the past two days and taken to immigration removal centres where they will be held ahead of the first flights in nine to 11 weeks. They are among 5,700 migrants whose applications for asylum have been denied after arriving in the UK illegally between January 2022 and June 2023. They were previously notified of their removal to Rwanda. They will be detained at seven immigration removal centres, where detention capacity has been expanded to 2,200 places although they will also be required to hold foreign criminals and other immigration offenders already facing deportation. Read more here: #migration #rwanda #politics #news