The UK Home Office said on May 1 that the first people set to be removed to Rwanda had been detained.Under the government’s Rwanda bill, people who come to the UK illegally, for example on unlicensed boats crossing the English Channel, will be deported to Rwanda.“We have begun detaining illegal migrants for removal to Rwanda,” UK Home Secretary James Cleverly wrote on X on Wednesday.“Our partnership will deter migrants from making deadly journeys across the Channel. Making it clear if you come here illegally, you cannot stay,” he said.The Home Office said it expected to send flights to Rwanda in the next nine to 11 weeks. Commercial charter flights had been booked and an airport was put on standby, the Home Office said.The bill faced intense scrutiny in the House of Lords but was eventually passed on Monday, April 22.The bill has been condemned by human rights groups and by the Council of Europe’s human rights watchdog. Credit: UK Home Office via Storyful