Rwanda flights: Thousands of asylum seekers not reporting to Home Office ‘will be found’, minister warns
Thousands of asylum seekers set for removal to Rwanda who have not reported to the Home Office “will be found and will be removed” by law enforcement, a minister has told Sky News.
A Home Office impact assessment published on Monday said only 2,143 of the 5,700 asylum seekers Rwanda has agreed to accept from the UK attend regular check-ins and “can be located for detention”.
This leaves 3,557 people not in regular contact.
However, government minister Victoria Atkins told Sky News: “Some are already detained in facilities, others are perhaps staying with friends or family. But the Home Office is in contact with much of the cohort.
“The Home Office is used to this, operationally, law enforcement officers are used to this.
“We want the message to go out loud and clear that if somebody doesn’t report as they should do, they shouldn’t think that they’ll get away with it. They will be found.
“Law enforcement have a variety of measures to find people.
“They will be found and they will be removed.
“I don’t pretend this is going to be easy. And we are very much doing this.”
Ms Atkins insisted all 5,700 people identified in the first group “as well as others” will be sent to Rwanda by the end of the year.
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Rwanda plan: ‘What does success mean?’
Only asylum seekers who arrived between 1 July 2022 and 29 June 2023 and who already received a letter telling them about the Rwanda plan are in this first group.
The first flights are planned for this July, which indicates no one who arrived in Britain on a small boat during the previous year will be onboard.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said he wants the first flights to take off within 10 to 12 weeks after the law was passed last week.
The controversial law was passed after a bill was created stating that Rwanda should be regarded as a safe country “for the purposes of relocating people, including in UK courts and tribunals”.
It suffered a number of setbacks and delays, including the Supreme Court ruling the scheme to send people arriving in the UK in small boats to Rwanda “unlawful” last year.
Ms Atkins added: “We want to deal with this. We don’t pretend it’s easy, but we believe that Rwanda is one of the many tools we have at our disposal.”
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Rishi Sunak with Rwandan President Paul Kagame outside 10 Downing Street. Pic: Reuters
After the law was passed, Mr Sunak said there were now 2,200 detention spaces and 200 dedicated caseworkers had been trained to process claims quickly.
About 25 courtrooms have been made available and 150 judges will provide 5,000 sitting days, he added.
The prime minister also said there were 500 “highly trained individuals ready to escort illegal migrants all the way to Rwanda, with 300 more trained in the coming week”.
Legal challenges are still expected, with campaigners saying they are identifying asylum seekers who may be singled out for deportation and will be lodging legal challenges.
A clash with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) – which blocked the first flight from taking off in June 2022 – could also be on the cards.
Despite the ongoing market meltdown on US trade tariffs, executives at major cryptocurrency firms Messari and Sygnum are bullish on institutional Bitcoin adoption later in 2025.
Speaking on a panel at Paris Blockchain Week on April 8, Messari CEO Eric Turner and Sygnum Bank co-founder Thomas Eichenberger said they expect a significant shift in the banking sector’s involvement with crypto in the second half of the year.
According to the executives, the global banking push into Bitcoin (BTC) services has great potential to happen in the second half of 2025 as regulators embrace crypto, including stablecoins and crypto services by banks.
“I think we’re probably looking at a muted Q2, but I’m really excited for Q3 and Q4,” Messari’s Turner said during the panel discussion moderated by Cointelegraph CEO Yana Prikhodchenko, forecasting “really interesting” things coming to the crypto market in 2025.
Crypto adoption is not just about Trump
While some investors focus on the pro-crypto stance of US President Donald Trump, Turner emphasized that broader regulatory momentum is what matters most.
“When you look at the potential of having market structure regulation in the US, stablecoin regulation, and just the fact that across the board, not just President Trump himself, but the SEC and all these regulatory industries are really embracing crypto,” Turner said.
Paris Blockchain Week’s panel with Cointelegraph CEO Yana Prikhodchenko, Bancor co-founder Eyal Hertzog, Sygnum co-founder Thomas Eichenberger, Messari CEO Eric Turner, AWS fintech leader Alex Matsuo and Near chief operating officer Chris Donovan. Source: Cointelegraph
Sygnum co-founder Thomas Eichenberger said international banks with US branches are also poised to enter the market once the legal landscape becomes clearer:
“I think it’s a matter of fact that US banks are preparing to be able to offer crypto custody and at least crypto spot trading services anytime soon.”
“I think by then I would agree with you, Eric,” he continued, projecting a continued phase of market uncertainty until the US establishes a clear regulatory framework.
Related: Ripple acquires crypto-friendly prime broker Hidden Road for $1.25B
Banks are no longer afraid of Bitcoin regulators
With the establishment of clear crypto rules for banks in the US, there will be a rush for crypto services by large international banks that are incorporated outside of the US but have a US-based presence, Eichenberger said.
“Some of them may have had their strategic plans in their cupboard to offer crypto-related services, but have been afraid that at some point they will be gone after by any of the US regulatory authorities,” he said, adding:
“Now I think there’s no one to be afraid of anymore in terms of regulatory authorities worldwide. So I think many of the large international banks will launch this year.”
Magazine: Financial nihilism in crypto is over — It’s time to dream big again
Global trade tensions triggered by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff measures may come to an end with a potential deal with China as investors remain concerned about escalation from both sides.
Trump’s April 2 announcement of reciprocal import tariffs sent shockwaves through global equity and crypto markets. The measures include a 10% baseline tariff on all imported goods, effective April 5, with higher levies — such as a 34% tariff on Chinese imports — set to begin on April 9.
However, the tariff negotiations may only be “posturing” for the US to reach an agreement with China, according to Raoul Pal, founder and CEO of Global Macro Investor.
“In the end, almost all the other tariff negotiations and rhetoric are all about getting China to agree a deal,” Pal wrote in an April 8 X post, adding:
“That is the big prize and both China and the US understand it and need it. Everything else is negotiation posturing. China needs a weaker $ and the US needs tariffs.”
Source: Raoul Pal
“Also, the US is trying to shut down China tariff arbitrage using other channels such as Mexico or Vietnam,” Pal said.
Related: Bitcoin price can hit $250K in 2025 if Fed shifts to QE: Arthur Hayes
China retaliates with new tariffs
Considering China’s latest retaliatory measures, a resolution remains unlikely in the short term.
In response to US tariffs, China imposed a 34% tariff on all US imports effective April 10, media outlet Xinhua News reported on April 4. China’s foreign ministry also vowed to “fight till the end” against Trump’s tariffs, which it called “bullying” by the world’s largest economy.
China overtakes the US in global trade. Source: Econovis
China overtook the US in 2012 to become the world’s largest trading nation by the total value of exports and imports, surpassing $4 trillion in goods trade that year, according to The Guardian.
Crypto markets watch trade outcome closely
As the trade dispute continues to evolve, analysts say a potential agreement between the two global superpowers could serve as a key catalyst for recovery in digital asset markets.
Crypto markets have a 70% chance to bottom by June 2025 before recovering, Nansen analysts predicted.
Related: Crypto market bottom likely by June despite tariff fears: Finance Redefined
Investor appetite for risk assets such as Bitcoin will depend on the global tariff responses from other countries, according to Nicolai Sondergaard, a research analyst at Nansen.
“We have reached somewhat of a local bottom in regard to tariffs and the impact on prices,” the analyst said during Cointelegraph’s Chainreaction live show on X, adding:
“Trump came out guns blazing, and we’ve mostly seen the worst from the US side, so we’ll see if other countries are willing to drop some of the tariffs because it’s very likely the US will do the same.”
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