PM warned diverting judges to Rwanda appeals will drive backlog and soar asylum hotel bills

The asylum hotel bill is set to soar, the Prime Minister has been warned by campaigners who say that diverting judges to hear Rwanda appeal cases will drive up the backlog.

Ministers plan to send asylum seekers coming to the UK on a one-way flight to the East African nation, with the aim of deterring others from crossing the English Channel on small boats.

The legislation ensuring the plan is legally sound, the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act, was passed by parliament and signed into law this week.

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.

In a move aimed at making sure Rwanda appeal cases do not lead to delays in flights taking off, ministers have asked first-tier tribunal judges to sit in the upper tribunals which hear appeal cases.

But campaigners have warned that this will lead to a larger backlog for other asylum cases since there will be fewer judges to deal with them and this in turn will lead to higher spending on hotel bills.

Muhunthan Paramesvaran, chair of the Law Society’s immigration committee and partner at Wilsons Solicitor LLP, said there is already a “massive asylum backlog that doesn’t relate to any Rwanda cases”.

He went on: “We can’t really see how this sudden capacity will be found without taking it away from the existing backlog of asylum appeals that the first tier tribunal is having to deal with.

“We can’t see how it won’t result in the entire system becoming completely clogged up, with fewer cases determined and fewer cases heard.”

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, added that the existing delays in the asylum system are “likely to get worse” as a result of moving judges around.

“There is already a growing backlog in the courts and the system is struggling to respond to a rise in demand,” he said.

“The pressure to clear the asylum backlog resulted in too much poor quality decision making, so the number of appeals has suddenly risen.”

Lord Blunkett, who was Tony Blair’s Home Secretary, said he believed flights would take off to Rwanda before the election, but added that “in doing so they will demonstrate just how inept and inadequate the programme is”.

He said this is because “it will contrast the potential few hundred a year with the tens of thousands who have been ruled to be inadmissible and are stuck in the UK without being processed and without the hope of going anywhere”.

Lord Blunkett added that this will be a “double whammy” because we are “paying large sums to Rwanda for a handful of asylum seekers and vast sums here at home to accommodate those whose claims are not being processed”.

A spokesperson for the judiciary said: “The deployment of judges is a matter for the judiciary. In line with new provisions in the Illegal Migration Act, the judiciary has 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 that arise from the Act.

“The decision to do so will be taken by the Senior President of Tribunals when the provisions in the Act commence, taking into account the interests of justice and the need for all matters before the Tribunals to be handled quickly and efficiently.”

Mr Sunak said that claims the Rwanda plan is causing an influx of migrants into Ireland show its deterrent effect is working.

“The deterrent is ... already having an impact because people are worried about coming here,” the Prime Minister told Sky News’ Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips.

It comes after deputy Irish premier Micheál Martin said the UK’s asylum policy is driving migrants in fear of being deported to Rwanda across the border from Northern Ireland into the Republic.