New: The Home Office has already started freeing people it detained for Rwanda flights
It will not confirm how many asylum seekers have so far been granted immigration bail but applications were expected. It plans to keep detaining more people to fill allocated detention space
It is responding to individual legal challenges against detention as they come, which can be based on someone's individual vulnerabilities or an argument they will not be deported in a "reasonable period"
The applications are handled by independent judges rather than Home Office
The detention operation - codenamed Operation Vector - only started a couple of weeks ago, and Rwanda flights are still at least 7 weeks away according to the government's own timetable
Many more bail applications will be lodged in that time
On appeals against being sent to Rwanda, the PM claimed: "The judiciary have made available 25 courtrooms and identified 150 judges who could provide over 5,000 sitting days"
A judicial spokesman said: "The deployment of judges is a matter for the judiciary..."
"...in line with new provisions in the Illegal Migration Act, the judiciary have identified a number of First Tier Tribunal judges who may be asked to sit in the Upper Tribunal to deal with any increase in appeals"
But decisions will be made by the Senior President of Tribunals
And take into "account the interests of justice and the need for all matters before the Tribunals to be handled quickly and efficiently"
Any decision on temporary deployment is for the judiciary, not the government, and there are already massive backlogs inews.co.uk/news/politics/…
Follow this thread for a fact-checked watch-along of prime minister Rishi Sunak's press conference on the Rwanda scheme
Wow he's going fast, I'll do my best
1. "We're going to deliver this indispensable deterrent so that we finally break the business model of the criminal gangs"
The Rwanda scheme required a rare ministerial direction because there is no evidence it will deter Channel crossings
2. "We've prepared for this moment to detain people while we prepare to remove them. We've increased detention spaces to 2,200 to quickly process claims"
By the end of December, 1,782 immigration detention centres were full, because they are needed for many other purposes
Exclusive: The Home Office has been quietly rolling out a multi-million IT system that was supposed to "automate" asylum, citizenship and visa cases
It's now causing chaos, with errors, bugs and delays leaving staff "sobbing" while applicants suffer inews.co.uk/news/politics/…
At least £71m has so far been spent on the Atlas digital caseworking system and spending is rising, with the Home Office admitting “significant resource is being put in place to resolve” issues
Some of the glitches have been classified as a P1 “critical” technical incidents
It has been causing delays to applications including British citizenship, skilled worker visas, asylum claims, EU settlement scheme and Homes for Ukraine, while slowing down immigration enforcement operations
Some cases get stuck, while civil servants get locked out of others
New: Official figures passed to the UK by the Rwandan government raise fresh issues about its capacity to process asylum seekers from the UK
It has decided just over 400 claims in 5 years, and refused three quarters of them inews.co.uk/news/politics/…
Between 2019 and the end of November a total of 421 asylum claims were decided, and only 113 (27%) were granted
The largest number of cases considered by Rwanda in a single year was 164, in 2023. During the same period, the UK made decisions on more than 112,000 asylum cases
Any limits on Rwanda's capacity will affect the number of migrants the UK can send
The treaty says transfers must be agreed in advance, "taking into account Rwanda’s capacity to receive them & all administrative and other needs" necessary to comply with assurances on treatment
🚨Breaking: The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) has conducted a legal assessment of the UK government's new Rwanda treaty and bill - and concludes the scheme still violates international law🚨
The government has claimed it can "address the Supreme Court's concerns" - the ruling that the Rwanda scheme was unlawful- with treaty enhancing safeguards on treatment of asylum seekers plus training and capacity building in Rwanda
The UNHCR says it hasn't fixed systemic issues
UNHCR also criticises plan to let asylum seekers from the UK stay in Rwanda if they're given refugee status or not - one of the key measures aimed to tackle the risk that asylum seekers may be sent directly or indirectly to countries where they're at risk (refoulement)