Tories Immigration Plan: would send them to Rwanda

The collapse of rivals and the war in Ukraine provide a lifeline for the British Prime Minister following the recent scandals.

Boris Johnson has become so indestructible that he even visited a war zone last month to meet the Ukrainian president in Kyiv. His stance on the Ukraine war reminds us of Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who took advantage of the Falkland Islands war against Argentina to become more popular at home.

Boris Johnson said 50 people had been told UK Government would send them to Rwanda within the next fortnight; Johnson was ready to fight with “leftie lawyers” seeking to challenge the government’s plans for refugees. Under the £120m scheme announced last month, people deemed to have entered the UK unlawfully will be transported to the east African country, where they will be allowed to apply for the right to settle. The plans have faced widespread criticism from human rights charities and even some Tory backbenchers, including the former prime minister Theresa May and the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

People seeking asylum in the UK will be flown 4,500 miles to Rwanda as part of a government crackdown on unauthorised migrants announced by Boris Johnson

Priti Patel, the home secretary, travelled to the central African country on Wednesday after finalising a “migration and economic development partnership”. The initiative comes as Johnson prepares to disclose further plans on Thursday to break up the business model of people-smuggling gangs and increase UK operations in the Channel.

Referring to UK’s referendum vote to leave the EU, BoJo will say: “We cannot sustain a parallel illegal system. Our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not. “The British people voted several times to control our borders. Not to close them, but to control them,” he said.

The deal with Rwanda, which will reportedly cost an initial £120m, 

It follows three years of promises by Patel to outsource asylum processing to third countries and failures to strike deals with Albania and Ghana. It is understood that the deal – described as “unworkable and unethical” by Labour – will mean that people seeking asylum in the UK will face the possibility of being flown to a camp in Rwanda.

Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, said the Rwandan proposal was a “shameful announcement meant to distract from Boris Johnson’s recent law-breaking.

 “It is an unworkable, unethical and extortionate policy that would cost the UK taxpayer billions of pounds during a cost of living crisis and would make it harder, not easier, to get fast and fair asylum decisions,” she said.

The United Nations refugee agency, the UNHCR, said it was waiting to see the bilateral agreement but expressed concern over the plans to send asylum seekers abroad. “UNHCR does not support the externalisation of asylum states’ obligations. This includes measures taken by states to transfer asylum seekers and refugees to other countries, with insufficient safeguards to protect their rights, or where this leads to the shifting rather than the sharing of responsibilities to protect refugees,” a spokesperson commented.

Priti Patel has seen Australian-style offshore processing centres – migrants would be flown within seven days of arriving in the UK – as a critical potential deterrent to stem the record surge in Channel crossings. Last month, she recruited the former Australian foreign minister Alexander Downer to review the country’s border force, weeks after he had urged the UK to adopt a hard line on boat migrants.

Ministers published the New Plan for Immigration in March,

which included proposals to amend sections 77 and 78 of the Nationality, Immigration and Asylum Act 2002 so that it would be possible to move asylum seekers from the UK while their asylum claim or an appeal is pending.

This plane will see migrants who make dangerous or illegal journeys, such as by small boat or hidden in lorries, have their asylum claim processed in Rwanda. Those whose claims are accepted will then be supported to build a new and prosperous life in one of the fastest-growing economies, recognised globally for its record of welcoming and integrating migrants. 

Britain and Rwanda announced Thursday that they had struck an agreement that will see some people arriving in the UK as stowaways on trucks or in small boats sent 4,000 miles (6,400 kilometres) to the East African country, where UK Government will process their asylum claims and, if successful, they will stay.

An Australian-style points-based system to control immigration.

The Australian PBS allows the government to select potential skilled migrants based on a range of criteria, including age, job offer, English language, time in professional employment, qualifications, and the skills of the applicant’s partner/spouse. Points are awarded based on these criteria; e.g. people aged 25 to 32 are awarded maximum points. Other issues are cited to complete a ‘professional year’ in Australia and sponsorship by a state or local governmental entity. Last year, Australian government figures showed that the country spent £461m processing 239 refugees and asylum seekers held offshore. According to figures collected by the PA news agency, more than 4,600 people have arrived in the UK by small boat crossings since the start of the year.

“We do not trade in human beings. It is impossible, and it would be contrary to our values,” said Paul Kagame at the annual diplomatic corps dinner held in late April in Kigali. The Rwandan president responded to the many criticisms raised by the April 14 signing of a memorandum of understanding stating the deportation to Rwanda of asylum seekers arriving illegally on UK territory. Rwanda “already provides refuge for almost 130,000 refugees from multiple countries. In 2019 at the request of the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees), Rwanda offered sanctuary to endangered migrants evacuated from Libya.

The British government says the plan will discourage people from making dangerous attempts to cross the English Channel and put people-smuggling gangs out of business.

Conservative lawmaker Andrew Griffith, a senior Johnson adviser, said the flights to Rwanda could start “in weeks or a small number of months.” Migration Minister Tom Pursglove said the drastic plan was needed to deter people from reaching Britain in dinghies and other boats from northern France. More than 28,000 migrants entered the UK across the Channel last year, up from 8,500 in 2020. Dozens had died, including 27 people in November, when a single boat capsized.

“Nobody should be coming in a small boat to the United Kingdom,” Pursglove told Sky News. “We quite rightly have a rich and proud history in this country of providing sanctuary for thousands of people over the years. …. But what we can’t have, and we can’t accept, is people putting their lives in the hands of these evil criminal gangs, and that’s why we think it is important that we take these steps.”

The deal leaves many questions unanswered, including its final cost and how participants will be chosen. The UK says children, and families with children, will not be sent to Rwanda.

Conclusion

Examining issues such as the recent immigration plan, Boris Johnson introduces himself as a pragmatic and non-traditional politician. Boris Johnson is here to say and show that I do not play by the rules. He probably knows he cannot trust him. Nevertheless, he is the one who does the work, even the dirty ones. 

Harsh economic conditions and demands to deal with immigrants, especially from the right-wing and hard-line conservatives, create a situation in which significant groups of people support anyone who solves these problems.