Number of migrants sent to Rwanda could be limited by shortage of lawyers

The Home Office may not be able to deport as many migrants to Rwanda as it wants to because of shortages of lawyers, leaked documents have revealed.

Officials have warned ministers that the amount of taxpayer-funded legal advice the Government is obliged to provide to migrants could be a major “constraining” factor on the number of deportations.

They said the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) could have to recruit as many as an extra 350 duty solicitors, funded by legal aid, to provide migrants with their statutory advice ahead of deportation, and calculated that some 11,550 solicitor hours could be needed in the course of a year.

Each migrant being deported to Rwanda will also require three minders, reducing the number of asylum seekers on any one flight to fewer than 50, according to the documents, which were drawn up last year and spelled out the logistics of preparing for the Rwanda scheme.

The disclosures come as Rishi Sunak’s Safety of Rwanda Bill returns to the Commons on Monday after suffering a series of defeats in the Lords. After a further round of parliamentary ping-pong between MPs and peers, it could pass by the end of next week, paving the way for the first flights.

Mr Sunak has said he aims to get the first deportation flights off to Rwanda this spring as part of his pledge to stop the boats. The first letters informing migrants that they have been earmarked for deportation are expected to be sent out within days of the Bill becoming law.

The “end-to-end detained approach” documents warned that two factors would “constrain” the number of migrants deported to Rwanda.

First was the shortage of spaces in immigration detention centres, estimated last autumn at 1,000, which would allow about 700 migrants a month to be held and processed before deportation to Rwanda.

Officials calculated that this would enable a potential 142 migrants to be deported on three flights a week with each asylum seeker minded by three escorts, according to the documents. This would suggest as many as 150 minders to 50 migrants per plane.

Some 500 escorts were being trained for the task of taking the migrants from their detention centres to the plane and then transporting them to their new accommodation once in Rwanda, said officials.

The documents warned, however, that the shortage of lawyers could have a bigger impact on the number of deportations, saying: “Legal capacity is a further constraining factor (likely greater than detention space).

“Discussions with MoJ are ongoing to determine exactly what is the justice system’s capacity. Devoting justice time to the operationalisation of [the legislation] will involve trade-offs with other important legal work in immigration and asylum.”

Officials estimated it would take an average of 44 days for each migrant to be processed for deportation from the point of being told of their prospective removal to Rwanda.

Migrants will have their asylum claims confirmed as inadmissible but will have a right to seek permission to appeal or a right to appeal under the legislation.

‘Shambolic Rwanda scheme’

They will be represented by duty immigration lawyers, funded through legal aid. But officials warned there were significant shortfalls in the number of solicitors needed to provide “meaningful” advice to migrants.

On top of the 11,550 solicitor hours needed to provide the required 12 hours of legal advice per migrant, officials projected that 20 per cent would appeal, with each requiring a further 20 hours of legal representation. To service 4,000 migrants earmarked for removal would need an extra 350 solicitors.

Government sources said they were confident the system was “resilient” to meet the legal demand. Legal aid fees for immigration lawyers have been increased by 15 per cent, while the MoJ has provided £1.4 million to pay for the costs of accrediting new immigration solicitors.

Alex Chalk, the Justice Secretary, said at the weekend that judges had received extra training to ensure asylum seekers could be removed to Rwanda “without delay”. An extra 100 court staff have been recruited and 25 hearing rooms equipped with camera technology so appeals can be heard remotely if needed.

The Home Office refused to comment on leaked documents, which sources claimed was out of date.

However, Stephen Kinnock, the shadow immigration minister, said: “These latest revelations show the utter absurdity of the Government’s shambolic Rwanda scheme, with each plane carrying three times as many escorts as migrants.

“The costs for taxpayers are already sky high, at well over £500 million – these documents suggest the security bill will push that up even more. We know the Government has been scrabbling around to find an airline willing to take people – and now it seems they’re struggling to find enough lawyers to process cases.”