A first deportation flight as part of a plan to evacuate people arriving in the UK via unofficial routes to the East African country is scheduled for Tuesday, after a Supreme Court judge ruled on Friday that it could proceed. Mark Servotka, general secretary of the PCS union, which represents more than 80 percent of Border Force personnel, said he hoped an appeal to the Supreme Court on Monday would stop the flight. He also argued that Home Secretary Pretty Patel should not ask officials to implement the policy until its legal position has been fully tested. He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “Imagine being a civil servant now in the Home Office who goes to work because you want to see a human migration system where people are treated fairly and we comply with our international obligations. “Imagine being told to do something on Tuesday, that in July then it is considered illegal. That would be a horrible situation. “I mean, if Priti Patel had any respect, not only for the desperate people who come to this country, but also for the workers she employs, she would not have asked any of them to take part in any deportation of any asylum seeker. “at least until these cases are heard in court for the full legitimacy of the crisis, which will take place in July.” At Friday’s hearing in court, Justice Swift refused to grant “temporary relief” following an application for precautionary measures filed by some of the asylum seekers facing deportation to Rwanda. The ruling will not deter individual refugees from further legal challenges to their removal or judicial review of the policy, which Swift said could take up to six weeks. PCS is involved in an appeal in the case on Monday. Servotka said there was a need to discuss not only the legitimacy of the policy, but also its ethical basis. “When people leave Iraq or Iran or Syria or Yemen and come to this country, they escape death, torture and persecution,” he said. “We should welcome people to this country and treat them with courtesy and evaluate their cases when they are here. “We hope to win tomorrow in the Court of Appeals to stop the flight.” The policy is intended to prevent people from using informal routes, such as crossing the Channel in small boats, to enter the UK and seek asylum. The number of people doing it has not yet decreased, but Downing Street says the impact will only be seen when the policy is fully activated. Subscribe to the First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every morning at 7 p.m. BST Critics say the relatively small number that could be sent to Rwanda would not deter people and that the fact that people with children would not be deported would be a mere incentive for minors to board boats. Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis also defended the policy on the Ridge show, declining to comment on what he called a “rumored” criticism by Prince Charles, who allegedly called the plan “disgusting”. Asked if he was comfortable with politics, Lewis said: “Yes, I am, in fact. “The reality is that this is a policy that is going to work to ensure that modern slavery and these smugglers know that their criminal methods will be brought down.”
