When this controversial plan was announced in mid-April, Prime Minister Boris Johnson – who will visit Kigali at the end of June to attend a Commonwealth summit – expected legal action by human rights groups.
“While we know there will be attempts to thwart the process and delay deportations, I will not back down and remain committed to implementing what the British public expects,” Home Secretary Priti Patel said on Tuesday.
It hailed a “new phase” towards implementing a partnership with Rwanda as part of the government’s strategy to reform the “broken asylum system and break the network of smugglers’ business.”
The statement said that people deported to Rwanda would be able to “rebuild their lives there in complete safety.”
In order to deter the increasing illegal crossings of the canal, the agreement allowing the UK to deport migrants and asylum seekers to Rwanda has drawn strong criticism from human rights groups and the opposition in both countries and even from the United Nations.
Under the agreement, London will initially fund the operation with up to 120 million pounds (141 million euros).
The Rwandan government said it would offer the migrants the possibility of “permanently settling in Rwanda if they so wish”.
One of the organizations that intends to challenge the British government’s decision quickly condemned the announcement of the Home Secretary, expressing its regret that this decision precedes the celebrations of the platinum jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne.
“What a way to celebrate Jubilee Weekend by telling victims of torture and slavery who traveled thousands of miles to safety that they will be banished to a dictatorship,” Bella Sankey, director of Dignity Action, said on Twitter.
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