Labour to fast-track plans to grant 90,000 Rwandan assigned migrants asylum on day a small boat overturned in the channel killing one person

Labour will fast-track plans to allow 90,000 migrants earmarked for deportation to Rwanda to claim asylum in Britain. 

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper is expected to unveil new legislation as early as this week that will kickstart the asylum claims process for thousands of people who had feared they could be removed from the UK. 

The Refugee Council estimates that between 60,000 and 90,000 people will be granted asylum despite having entered the country illegally. 

However,officials are expected to prioritise asylum seekers from 'safe' countries such as Vietnam,Albania,Egypt and India,which makes up 30 per cent of the overall figure,The Telegraph reported. 

News of the move comes just hours after a migrant died after an overcrowded dinghy sunk while trying to cross the English Channel.

A group of people thought to be migrants are brought in to Dover,Kent,from a Border Force vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on July 13,2024

The arrangement is not thought to have yet formally ended and the cost to the UK Government of walking away early from the five-year deal is so far unknown.

The Rwanda government previously said it had 'fully upheld its side of the agreement'.

Launching the Border Security Command earlier this month,Home Secretary Yvette Cooper described it as Labour's first priority on migration,which was designed to crack down on people-smuggling gangs orchestrating the crossings.

A commander for the unit is expected to be appointed in the coming weeks. It is unclear how this will differ from existing units already operating in the Home Office.

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