Under the five-year trial – first announced in April 2022 – some asylum seekers arriving in the UK would be sent to Rwanda for processing. On arrival, they could be granted refugee status and allowed to stay. If not, they could apply to settle there on other grounds, or seek asylum in another “safe third country”. The government said that “anyone entering the UK illegally” after 1 January 2022 could be sent there, with no limit on numbers. But, so far, no asylum seeker has actually been sent.