Rwanda is no longer so much a practical solution to the increase in irregular immigration in the United Kingdom, but rather a struggle with judges, humanitarian organizations, voters and even the hard wing of the Conservative Party that Rishi Sunak must win to survive politically. The British Government has insisted on saving a deportation policy that the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom itself has annulled as illegal. It is the only way, Prime Minister Sunak’s team thinks, to save the Conservatives’ electoral chances within a year.
The Minister of the Interior, James Cleverly, traveled to Kigali this Tuesday to renegotiate with the Rwandan Government the agreement that Boris Johnson closed in April 2022. Since then, not a single plane has taken off from British soil with immigrants, either due to the intervention of the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, or by the British justice system itself. All instances have clearly pointed out the doubts – put on the table at the time by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees – regarding the legal security of Kigali, and the real possibility that many of the deportees will be returned to their homes. countries of origin, where they will suffer persecution and reprisals.
The Sunak Government, however, is convinced that if London and Kigali sign a new improved agreement, and Parliament approves in the coming days a declaration that Rwanda is a trustworthy country, the matter will be resolved and shielded from future legal challenges.
The new agreement ensures, according to the statement issued this Tuesday by the British Government, that “people displaced to Rwanda will not run the risk of being returned to a country where their life or freedom is threatened.” The text reinforces the functions of the independent control committee that had already been agreed between both countries. In this way, Downing Street says, it will be able to supervise that the conditions established regarding the reception, treatment and support of deported immigrants, as well as the process of processing asylum applications, are met.
“We firmly believe that this treaty responds to all the objections raised by the justices of the Supreme Court. “We have worked closely with our partners in the Government of Rwanda to ensure that this is the case, and I am confident that from now on we can move forward quickly,” Cleverly said at a press conference in Kigali, alongside the Rwandan Foreign Minister. , Vincent Biruta.
“Next we will promote a legislative proposal that incorporates these improvements in British law and closes some of the loopholes that today allow the filing of spurious lawsuits that prevent immigrants from boarding planes,” added the Secretary of State for Immigration in London. , Robert Jenrick. “With both things we will be able to move forward with a plan that is key to reducing the numbers of immigrants,” he added. In the best of cases, the African country would have the capacity to welcome up to a thousand immigrants.
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At the time, London committed to paying more than 160 million euros annually to Kigali in exchange for its collaboration. Cleverly’s visit, which according to Sunday Times will be accompanied by the offer of financial reinforcement, seeks a way to ensure that the process of processing deportees’ asylum applications is carried out in the appropriate manner. The Government is even considering the idea of sending a team of British lawyers there to collaborate during the procedures. “There are problems with the process in general, and I know that the Home Office is carefully considering that possibility,” the Secretary of State for Culture, Lucy Frazer, admitted on the BBC.
The truth is that Rwanda has become more of a symbol of Downing Street’s supposed firmness to curb immigration than a truly effective response. So far this year, more than 20,000 people have crossed the waters of the English Channel to reach the English coast. But, above all, it is the total number of immigrants – irregular or legal – that has Sunak and his government on the ropes. In 2022, the record number of 745,000 people will be reached. For this year, calculations from the National Statistics Office already point to more than 670,000 new inhabitants.
“The Government should admit that the scheme [de deportaciones a Ruanda] has failed and cannot be amended. “They should focus instead on how to solve the current logjam in processing asylum applications and the sector’s lack of capacity to deal with immigration,” said Nick Emmerson, president of the Law Society of England and Wales. of England and Wales).
Stop legal immigration
Hours before his trip to Kigali, Cleverly had presented to the House of Commons a battery of new measures to restrict the routes and mechanisms of entry into the United Kingdom for legal immigrants: visa workers, students and dependent family members for the most part. If the Immigration Law enacted by Boris Johnson’s Executive already required companies that aspired to hire a foreign worker to pay a minimum annual salary of just over 30,000 euros, the Sunak Government has raised the bar to 45,000 euros. , a level that is difficult to achieve in sectors such as hospitality, agriculture or assistance to dependent people.
Cleverly presented in Parliament a list of new commitments that would achieve, he said, reduce the number of new immigrants by up to 300,000 people annually. Firstly, the very decision to increase the annual salary required to obtain a visa, as well as the cancellation of the salary reduction of up to 20% for foreign workers in sectors where it has been officially decreed that there is a labor shortage construction site. And a greater hardening to join as health personnel in hospitals and public health centers, despite the urgent need to fill these positions.
The latest survey published by YouGov notes that, After the economy and the public health situation, immigration has become the issue that most worries British citizens. And that same survey indicates that for 39%, compared to 37%, it is more important to reduce the number of immigrants than to boost the growth of the economy (much more so if the latter requires the arrival of foreign labor). The Conservative Party’s obsession has become an existential crisis ahead of the next general election, which must be held at the end of the year.
The Sunak Government insists that, before citizens are called to the polls, planes with immigrants will have already taken off for Rwanda. If not, the prime minister would find himself caught in a trap that he himself has taken it upon himself to reinforce until it becomes inevitable.
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