Fewer than 10 migrants could be deported on the first flight to Rwanda as a result of legal complications.
Home Office officials fear the number could be in single figures due to legal challenges on behalf of migrants.
Hundreds of migrants have already been detained in the past two weeks ready for the first flight scheduled for the end of June or beginning of July.
The initial cohort of 5,700 migrants have already been earmarked for deportation.
A source close to the planning of the flights told The Times: “We will do well to get to double figures on the first flight because of the attrition rate due to legal challenges.”
Claims can be lodged by migrants set to be deported to the African country if they can provide “compelling evidence relating specifically to the person’s particular circumstances.”
Legal challenges are expected to be based on articles two and three of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), which protect the right to life and guard against torture.
The first flight scheduled to depart for Rwanda in 2022 had just seven migrants on board before it was blocked by European judges.
Former Home Secretary, Suella Braverman, visiting the potential migrant housing estate in Kigali, RwandaPAA Home Office spokesman said: “The deterrent within the Rwanda policy is simple and already showing signs of working. If you come to the UK illegally, and now if you are a failed asylum seeker with no right to be here, you will be removed. That was always the aim and is neither new nor rushed.”
Source Agencies
