90k illegal migrants due to be sent to Rwanda will be given chance to stay as Labour will fast-track their asylum claims

LABOUR is to fast-track the asylum claims of tens of thousands of migrants who were due to be sent to Rwanda.

Of the 90,000 told they could be put on deportation flights, about 60,000 are predicted to have their claims accepted.

Some of the Rwanda cohort had taken challenges to the High Court and were told yesterday that their claims would be processed within a week “as a priority”.

Former PM Rishi Sunak had made it impossible for migrants who arrived illegally to be granted refugee status.

It meant a huge backlog of cases had built up since his Illegal Migration Act came into force 18 months ago, as no deportation flights took off for Rwanda.

Sir Keir Starmer, who has scrapped the Rwanda scheme, said processing would begin on the estimated 90,000 claims.

It is understood a loophole could be used to tackle the backlog without repealing the Illegal Migration Act.

Arrivals from so-called safe countries, such as India and Albania, will be considered first as their claims are likely to be rejected, leading to them being deported.

It comes as a woman drowned on a small boat yesterday — the sixth person to die attempting a Channel crossing this week.

A No10 spokeswoman said the incident “underlines the callousness of the criminal gangs who are driving this”.