Britain aims to send a first group of asylum seekers to Rwanda in two weeks' time, as part of a policy which the government says is designed to break people-smuggling networks and stem the flow of migrants across the Channel.
In April, Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government announced plans to Rwanda send some of the people who seek asylum in Britain, in a plan that drew criticism from both within and outside Johnson's Conservative Party, as well as from many charities.
The Home Office said on Tuesday that an initial group of migrants have started to receive formal letters telling them they are being sent to Rwanda to "rebuild their lives in safety".
"The Removal Direction confirms that they will be going to Rwanda and when," Britain's Home Secretary Priti Patel said in a statement. "The first flight is expected to take place next month, on the 14th of June."
(Reporting by Andrew MacAskill; editing by David Milliken)
