Suella Braverman says she won't say when the first people will be sent to the East African country.

Suella Braverman, Britain's interior minister, says she is sure Rwanda is a safe place for asylum seekers to live, but she has not set a date for the first people to be sent there.

As part of a 120-million-pound ($148-million) deal, the British government wants to send thousands of asylum seekers more than 6,500km (4,000 miles) away to the East African country. This is to stop people from taking small boats from France across the English Channel.


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The plan was made public in April of last year, but the European Court of Human Rights put a stop to the first deportation flight.

In December, London's High Court said that the plan was legal, but opponents want to change that decision.

Last month, Britain released information about a bill that would make it illegal for asylum seekers on small boats to enter the country. It would stop them from asking for asylum and try to send them back home or to what are called "safe third countries."

Some charities said that the proposed law might not work and would make the work of thousands of refugees illegal.

The BBC asked Home Secretary Braverman about a violent protest over food rations in a camp in Rwanda in 2018. Rwandan police said at least five refugees died in the protest.

Braverman said she didn't know about that case, but she was "on solid ground" when she said Rwanda was a safe country and that it was the right answer to Britain's problem with small boats.

She said on Sunday, "We're looking at 2023 and beyond." "The High Court, which is made up of senior, expert judges, has looked into the details of our deal with Rwanda. They found that it is a safe country and that our deal is legal."

Braverman went to Rwanda last month, but he wouldn't say when the first flight would leave.

"We have to be honest with ourselves," she told Sky News. “We had a very strong victory in the High Court at the end of last year on Rwanda. We have now put laws into place. We want to move people from the UK to Rwanda as quickly as possible."

Braverman also told the BBC that ministers were looking at "all kinds of

He said "land and sites and ships" would be used to house asylum seekers in the UK, but he didn't say if the government was close to making a deal on this.

Getting hold of a barge.

SOURCE: NEWS AGENCIES