The British government said, on Tuesday (27), that “damage to society will increase” if it does not act “decisively” to reduce the arrival of migrants through illegal routes, defending its plan to send to Rwanda, a country in East Africa, potential asylum seekers.
Secretary of State for Immigration Robert Jenrick appeared before the House of Commons to respond to a pressing question from the Labor Party, which questioned the viability and cost of the government’s strategy.
“The volumes and costs associated with illegal migration have increased exponentially, driven by the arrival of small vessels” through the English Channel, which separates France from England, declared the politician.
“Unless we act decisively to stop these boats, the cost to the taxpayer and damage to society will continue to grow,” he added.
Jenrick said that according to the “impact assessment” of the Rwanda plan published on Monday (26) by the Ministry of Interior, the costs of hosting “illegal migrants” while their asylum applications are processed have multiplied since 2020 and, if If the trend continues, they could reach 11 billion pounds per year in 2026 (about 12.8 billion euros).
Jenrick argued in the British Parliament that with the passage of the Illegal Migration Bill, the number of people trying to migrate illegally to the UK would fall by 2%. The project contemplates sending potential refugees to third countries to process their case, which would end up, according to Jenrick, discouraging some people from trying to illegally migrate to the country.
“The impact assessment published yesterday makes it clear that inaction is not an option,” he added.
However, the spokeswoman for Labor Immigration, Yvette Cooper, described the Interior’s report as “garbage” and the intervention of the Secretary of State as “even less coherent”.
Yvette Cooper pointed out that, according to this “assessment”, the cost of deportation to Rwanda will be 169,000 pounds per person (about 195,000 euros), which, based on arrivals in the 12 months to March, would add up to more than 12 billion pounds (13.95 billion euros) a year, well above the 3.6 billion (about 4.2 billion euros) invested in the processing system in the UK.
The British Parliament is currently analyzing the bill, while the government awaits an opinion in the coming days from the British Justice on the legality of its plan, after in June 2022 the European Court of Human Rights prevented the takeoff of the first flight with migrants to Kigali, the capital of Rwanda.
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