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The British Prime Minister announced the project that aims to control the migratory flow that comes through the English Channel, a matter of dispute with France, and combat the criminal organizations behind it. “We cannot ask the taxpayer to write a blank check to cover the costs of anyone who wants to come and live here,” he said. The interior minister is in Kigali to seal the deal that will cost an initial payment of 150 million euros.
This Thursday the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Boris Johnson, gave a speech where he confirmed the measure that consists of mobilizing asylum-seeking immigrants arriving from the English Channel to Rwanda.
It is part of a plan that aims to reconfigure the immigration system to regain border control after Brexit, deal with illegal emigration and “send a clear message” to the criminal groups that promote it, according to the president.
The premier spoke at an event held in the town of Lydd, in the county of Kent, in southeastern England, a region that received thousands of immigrants last year who arrived in precarious boats. The tragedy of last November, where 27 people were shipwrecked in a boat, was the final point to take action on the matter.
For this reason, the head of the conservative government announced this plan before the Minister of the Interior, Priti Patel, signs the agreement with the Rwandan authorities in Kigali. Once the agreement is signed, the Africans – with whom they have been working for six months on this plan – expect an initial economic package of 150 million euros.
“Our compassion may be infinite, but our ability to help people is not,” he emphasized. In addition, he argued that it is not fair to “ask the British taxpayer for a blank check” to keep “everyone who wants to live” in United Kingdom Then, he said that it is “an overload” for the education, health and housing system.
Our new partnership with Rwanda shows we can no longer accept the status quo.
People are dying and the global migration crisis requires us to find new ways to work in partnership.
It will deal a major blow to the evil people smugglers.
This is what it means 👇🏽 pic.twitter.com/J5RAynuGu7
– Priti Patel (@pritipatel) April 14, 2022
Within the announcements, Johnson stated that the British Navy will be in charge of combing the waters of the English Channel to prevent illegitimate boats with refugees from reaching English shores.
“Human traffickers are preying on the vulnerable and turning the Canal into a watery graveyard with men, women and children drowning in unseaworthy boats and suffocating in refrigerated trucks,” he exclaimed.
However, the conservative also clarified that this controversial plan can be sued in front of the British courts, which will cause it not to come into force soon.
Opposition and humanitarian organizations criticize Johnson’s plan
The project to divert immigrants to Rwanda aroused criticism within the British opposition and human rights groups, who charged that this announcement is to disperse attention to the sanctions recently imposed by the ‘Party-gate’.
Yvette Cooper, a leader of the Labor Party, described as “exorbitant, unfeasible and unethical” the treatment they plan to give immigrants. In addition, she referred the case of Australia which spends – according to figures recorded by the Refugee Council of Australia – 1.7 million pounds per person to hold asylum seekers in foreign camps.
For his part, the executive director of the Refugee Council, Enver Salomón, pronounced that this political move violates the principle of granting a fair hearing on British soil for migrants.
“I think it’s quite extraordinary that the government is obsessed with control instead of focusing on competition and compassion,” he said.
Another point of concern is destiny. Rwanda has already been part of speeches of concern for being a country that committed human rights violations last year.
With EFE and Reuters
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