George Mathias
SPANISH airline Privilege Style, based in Mallorca, has agreed to fly channel-crossing migrants currently in the UK to Rwanda under a highly controversial new law enacted by the British government.
At least eight people are thought to be scheduled on a flight on Tuesday evening (June 14), with all mounting last ditch legal challenges to prevent their deportation to the former British colony.
An attempt to block the flight from departing was rejected by the Court of Appeal in London on Monday June 13.
Two asylum seekers, a Vietnamese man and a Iranian Kurd, have since had their appeal rejected, and look set to be deported imminently.
Photo: Wikipedia.
The Mallorca airline specialises in chartered flights for high profile people such as players of Barcelona, Real Madrid and the Spanish national football team.
The agreement was signed between the UK and Rwanda in April with the British government claiming it will deter illegal migrants from making the perilous journey across the English Channel.
The policy has since been denounced by a host of human rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as celebrities and religious leaders, but the British government has so far resisted immense pressure to reverse the policy.
In a public letter to The Times newspaper, Church of England leaders, including Archbishop Justin Welby, called the plan ‘an immoral policy that shames Britain’.
“Those to be deported to Rwanda have had no chance to appeal, or reunite with family in Britain,” they said.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson accused the lawyers representing the migrants at risk of deportation of ‘abetting the work of criminal gangs’.
Meanwhile a government spokesperson said they could not confirm whether a flight would leave on Tuesday despite Foreign Secretary Liz Truss claiming it would.
The agreement is a five-year trial where asylum seekers deemed to have entered the UK illegally are forcibly moved to Rwanda to claim asylum.
The government says they will be provided with accommodation and support while their application is considered.
If successful they will then be permitted to stay in the country for up to five years.
The Olive Press has approached the airline for comment.
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This UK government plan to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda has been condemned by Archbishops and bishops of the Church of England as “immoral” and even the Prince of Wales says it is “appalling”. The UNHCR and the UN has said it is illegal. It has been challenges in court and of the 20+ asylum seekers threatened with deportation, 13 of them have won their appeals in court, leaving just 7 asylum seekers being transported to Rwanda at a cost of £500,000 – £71,400 each for one way ticket. The asylum seekers haven’t had their cases assessed. As Brit I’m ashamed of my country of birth.