The first migrants set to be deported to Rwanda have been detained.
The Home Office said a series of operations took place across the country over the last few days, with more activity due to be carried out in the coming weeks.
It comes amid the Government’s bid to get flights to send migrants to the east African nation off the ground by July, after the Safety of Rwanda (Asylum and Immigration) Act became law last week.
The announcement was made after figures showed Channel crossings had reached another record high and ahead of what is expected to be a testing set of local and mayoral elections for Rishi Sunak across England and Wales, in which the Conservatives are likely to suffer heavy losses.
Meanwhile the Home Office faced questions over its ability to track down thousands people it had earmarked for removal to Rwanda.
According to a Government document released this week, only 2,143 out of the 5,700 people identified for removal to Rwanda “continue to report to the Home Office and can be located for detention”.
Published on the Home Office website on Monday, the document also acknowledges there could be further delays to deportations caused by MPs making last-minute representations to suspend removals.
Officials have not yet said how many people have been detained, or where they were taken into custody.
Home Office director of enforcement Eddy Montgomery said it was “vital that operational detail is kept to a minimum, to protect colleagues involved and those being detained, as well as ensuring we can deliver this large-scale operation as quickly as possible”.
At the same time, there were reports a failed asylum seeker had become the first person to volunteer to be sent to Rwanda after being offered £3,000 to do so, prompting criticism from political opponents.
A Labour Party source said: “Is there any more blatant sign that (former immigration minister Robert) Jenrick was right about this all being symbolic before an election than this mad flurry of stories?
“The core substance though hasn’t changed. This is a tiny scheme at an extortionate cost and the criminal gangs will see through this con.”
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: “Instead of headline-grabbing schemes that will waste time and resources and are unleashing even more human misery, we need a fair and controlled asylum system. The Government must focus on processing asylum claims efficiently and fairly.”
Downing Street denied decisions to detain asylum seekers were connected to the upcoming local elections.
The Prime Minister’s press secretary said: “From our part there isn’t really a day to lose when people are dying in the Channel having been induced into boats by gangs.
“People are ultimately breaking into our country so of course we want to get moving as rapidly as possible and the PM has always been consistent that he would move as quickly as he could.”
The man, who has not been named, is understood to have accepted the offer under the voluntary scheme some weeks ago and is now in Kigali, with the Sun reporting his flight left on Monday evening.
The policy, expanded to include Rwanda earlier this year, is separate from the Government’s plan to deport migrants arriving in the UK after crossing the Channel.
Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch told Times Radio this news should be “trumpeted” and demonstrated Rwanda was safe.
The Government’s plan to give migrants a one-way ticket to Kigali – in a bid to deter others from crossing the Channel – is yet to be tested, with the latest legislation aimed at making it legally sound having passed into law just days ago.
The Prime Minister last week said it will take between 10 and 12 weeks for deportation flights to Rwanda to begin, meaning they will not start until the summer.
Provisional Home Office figures show 7,567 people have arrived in the UK so far this year after making the journey.
This is a new record high for the first four months of a calendar year and a 27% hike on the number of arrivals recorded for the same period in 2023.
Some 900 migrants have made the journey since the Safety of Rwanda Act became law after receiving Royal Assent on Thursday.
The National Crime Agency (NCA) said a fourth man had been arrested on suspicion of immigration offences after five migrants died last week while trying to cross the Channel.
Describing the Rwanda deal as a “pioneering response to the global challenge of illegal migration”, Home Secretary James Cleverly said: “We have worked tirelessly to introduce new, robust legislation, to deliver it.
“Our dedicated enforcement teams are working at pace to swiftly detain those who have no right to be here so we can get flights off the ground.
“This is a complex piece of work, but we remain absolutely committed to operationalising the policy, to stop the boats and break the business model of people smuggling gangs.”