UK set to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda under new plan

By DANICA KIRKA
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson beat back criticism of his plan to send asylum-seekers of various nationalities to Rwanda, saying that efforts attempting to block the flights were “abetting the work of criminal gangs’’ involved in smuggling people across borders. Johnson’s government has reached an agreement with Rwanda to deport people who enter the U.K. illegally to the East African country. The government contends this will deter people from paying criminals to help them take the risky journey across the English Channel. The policy has faced a series of legal challenges and sparked heated debate in Britain. The U.K. Supreme Court refused to hear one last-ditch appeal Tuesday. The first flight is expected later in the day, though perhaps with only a handful of people aboard.