UK wants to send asylum seekers to Rwanda

“Cruel, immoral, impractical.” Refugee associations thus responded to the new British immigration plan, confirmed on Thursday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, which enables the deportation to Rwanda of “tens of thousands” of clandestine migrants in an agreement reached with the government of President Paul Kagame.

The controversial measure tries to dissuade those who cross the English Channel in fragile and unstable boats – some 28,000 in 2021 and close to 5,000 so far this year – and aims to break the business model of the gangs of human traffickers that They operate on both sides of the coast, both in the United Kingdom and in the European Union.

The ‘illegals’ will be transferred to the African country on flights chartered by the British Government, and without the possibility of return. The Rwandan authorities will process asylum applications and offer permanent settlement to those who obtain official approval. In return, Rwanda will receive an initial payment of 120 million pounds (about 145 million euros). The Joint Council for the Welfare of Refugees (JCWI) warned that the United Kingdom hosts refugees fleeing this African republic for reasons of sexual persecution.

Johnson assured that “there is no other option” to curb immigration through routes declared illegal and suggested that the new system could become a “prototype” of the solution to the global problem of refugee displacement. However, he anticipated a cascade of legal complaints from the Human Rights “lawyer regiment”, which will delay its take-off and operation. But, in the speech delivered in the southern county of Kent, a point of entry for those traveling from French and Belgian beaches, he expressed confidence that the plan “fully complies with international regulations”.

The first obstacle could present itself in the Westminster Parliament during the final processing of the Nationality and Borders bill, scheduled for next week. The House of Lords amended the text with clauses specifically against the processing of asylum applications in the United Kingdom in third countries and there is a risk of a constitutional clash with the Commons, which has a conservative majority. Meanwhile, the Government passed command of operations in the English Channel from the Border Guard to the Royal Navy.