Rwanda plan: Home Office launches surprise sweep to fill first flights

Lib Dem spokesman condemns 'cruel gimmick', but Sunak says plan is already having deterrent effect

Migrants escorted by British immigration enforcement officers
Migrants escorted by British immigration enforcement officers after being picked up in the Channel
(Image credit: Ben Stansall / AFP via Getty Images)

The Home Office has launched a UK-wide operation to detain asylum seekers for the first deportation flights to Rwanda.

The sweep comes "weeks earlier than expected", said The Guardian, which broke the story. Asylum seekers selected for removal will be detained during regular scheduled appointments with Home Office officials, and immigration enforcement agents "will also pick people up nationwide".

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The Home Office did not address the report that detentions are underway from today, but confirmed that the government was "entering the final phase" of operationalising the policy.

The immigration debate has "become so warped" that "mass deportation is viewed, in Sunak's words, as 'compassionate'", said Kenan Malik in The Observer. But there is "nothing compassionate or constructive about the performative cruelty that now stands for immigration policy".

Arion McNicoll is a freelance writer at The Week Digital and was previously the UK website’s editor. He has also held senior editorial roles at CNN, The Times and The Sunday Times. Along with his writing work, he co-hosts “Today in History with The Retrospectors”, Rethink Audio’s flagship daily podcast, and is a regular panellist (and occasional stand-in host) on “The Week Unwrapped”. He is also a judge for The Publisher Podcast Awards.

With contributions from