The new British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, canceled the controversial Refugee deportation UK plan. He made this move in his first central announced policy after his landslide victory in the UK general election. However, after months of debate, on April 22, the UK Parliament finally passed the controversial bill. Britain has been facing the challenge of asylum seekers for years, and the conservatives could not solve this problem. This article examines the failed policies of the conservatives regarding asylum seekers. Also, it reviews the policy of the new UK government towards asylum seekers.
Conservative plan to tackle illegal asylum seekers
The previous Conservative government introduced a plan for Refugee deportation UK to Rwanda to deal with the illegal entry of asylum seekers. According to this highly controversial five-year government plan, those who reached the UK by small boats or other means were to be transferred to Rwanda to have their asylum applications processed. Rwanda is a small, landlocked country in the center of Africa, 6500 km away from Britain. The first flight to Rwanda was supposed to take place in the summer of 2022 but was canceled at the last minute after legal challenges. The UK government had reached a financial agreement with the Rwandan government to implement this program.
Defeat of Conservatives in Refugee Deportation UK
The Conservative Party announced a plan to send migrants who have entered the UK without permission to the African country of Rwanda. Conservatives said the plan would end the arrival of refugees in small boats. However, they sent no asylum seekers to Rwanda under the scheme due to years of legal challenges. Charities and unions in the Supreme Court challenged this plan’s legality. The UK Supreme Court said Rwanda is not a safe third country. Therefore, last November, the Court declared the scheme illegal.
Postponing the plan to deport refugees to Rwanda
Rishi Sunak, the former Conservative Prime Minister of the UK, promised to stop the migrant boats from reaching the UK. Statistics show that he could have been more successful in this matter. On the other hand, his plan for refugee deportation UK to Rwanda also faced obstacles. The UK Parliament approved Sunak government’s controversial plan to deport refugees to Rwanda last April after months of debate. After the dissolution of parliament for early elections, Sunak was forced to postpone implementing this plan until the formation of the next government.
Increase in the number of illegal asylum seekers entering the UK
Rishi Sunak stated that the number of small boats sailing from France to Britain will drop by more than a third in 2023. In 2023, 29,437 people entered the UK illegally through the English Channel. Statistics have found an upward trend again in the new year. According to the latest statistics, from the beginning of 2024 to June 26, 13,195 people crossed the English Channel. The number of illegal immigrants has been higher compared to the same period in the last four years.
Starmer’s election promise on asylum seekers
The issue of dealing with illegal immigrants was one of the main challenges facing the parties in the July 4 election. Keir Starmer, the leader of the Labor Party, said during his election campaign that if he wins, he will abandon the Rwanda plan. He said that he would use the power related to countering terrorism to prevent human trafficking in the English Channel.
The first action of Keir Starmer, the new Prime Minister of England
Speaking at a press conference at the Prime Minister’s Office, 10 Downing Street, new UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said that he would prioritize the country’s interests over those of his party. Moreover, he said he was abandoning the previous Conservative government’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda. Starmer called the policy a gimmick that failed to act as a deterrent. “It’s never acted as a deterrent. Almost the opposite,” he said, pointing to a record number of small boats entering the country illegally this year.
The futility of the refugee deportation plan
In Starmer’s opinion, only about one percent of refugees will decrease with the policy of deporting refugees to Rwanda. From his point of view, this policy cannot act as a deterrent. When asked if the plan was dead and buried now that he won the election, the British prime minister said: “The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started.” Supporters of the plan say it will eliminate human trafficking.
Critics have argued that the policy of transferring refugees to Rwanda is immoral and will never work.
The opposing view of the British towards illegal asylum seekers
About 70,000 asylum applications are registered in the UK every year. Many people in Britain consider the increase in the number of immigrants to have negative effects. According to Sky News, in a survey about immigration, 43 percent of respondents had a negative view of the consequences of increasing immigration. In comparison, 35 percent believe that immigrants have positive effects on the economy and society.
The need to present an alternative plan for organizing asylum seekers by Starmer
The UK Conservatives and the former government under Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had invested heavily politically in dealing with illegal immigration. Refugee deportation UK failed under the Conservatives. They believed that methods such as transferring asylum seekers to Rwanda would disrupt the deadly business of human trafficking in the English Channel. Labor’s policy on dealing with illegal asylum seekers is very different from that of the Conservatives.
They think that they should organize asylum seekers, but they are against methods such as deportation. The cancellation of the plan to send refugees to Rwanda by the Labor Party can have negative consequences due to the negative thoughts of the British regarding refugees. The Labor Party should present a comprehensive plan to deal with the refugee crisis immediately.
