UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on Thursday one of the most controversial immigration policies of his term so far. The government will send immigrants who enter the country illegally to seek asylum in Rwanda, a country 7,000 kilometers away in the center of the African continent that has the 160th worst human development index in the world.
The official justification is to make life difficult for criminal organizations that practice human trafficking. In practice, however, the move is a nod to the Conservative Party electorate, which opposes immigration policies and which elected him to carry out the Brexit process in 2016.
Boris nearly lost his post as prime minister at the beginning of the year after being mired in allegations of breaking quarantine rules during the country’s worst phase of Covid and losing the support of members of his own party. Last Tuesday (12), he was fined by the London police, which reignited the controversy.
“We must ensure that the only route to asylum in the UK is safe and legal,” the prime minister said in a speech in Kent, south east England, where thousands of migrants in small boats disembark after crossing the English Channel. “Those who try to skip the line or abuse our systems will not find an automatic path to settle in our country, but will be quickly and humanely removed to a safe third country or their home country,” he said.
The measure even has retroactive effect: anyone who has arrived in the UK illegally since January 1 can now be relocated to Rwanda, the prime minister said. “The deal we’ve made is limitless and Rwanda will have the ability to resettle tens of thousands of people over the next few years.”
To put the measure in place, the British Royal Navy will take charge of the operation with refugees in the English Channel, he said, and the Executive will invest 50 million pounds (R$ 307 million) in personnel and equipment such as helicopters, planes and drones.
Boris acknowledged that the move will face legal challenges, but said the partnership is “fully compliant” with international law obligations. The UK is to contribute an initial amount of £120m to the government of Rwanda.
Welsh Secretary of State Simon Hart said in an interview that the most affected by the measure are young, single men. “There’s a different set of issues with women and children.”
The announcement drew strong criticism from opposition parties. Former Labor MP Yvette Cooper called the measure “impractical and unethical”. There are also concerns about the history of human rights abuses in Rwanda, recognized by the British government in the last year.
Lewis Mudge, Human Rights Watch’s director for Central Africa, said on Thursday that “refugees have been abused in Rwanda, and the government has sometimes kidnapped Rwandan refugees outside the country to bring them back to face trial and ill-treatment.” “.
The director general of the NGO Refugee Action, Tim Naor Hilton, said that the measure has a “cowardly, barbaric and inhuman way of treating people fleeing persecution and wars.”
Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, which defends the rights of immigrants, said the announced plan violated the principle of granting asylum seekers a fair hearing on British soil. “I find it extraordinary that the government is obsessed with control rather than compassion,” he told BBC radio.
On Thursday, Boris said that Rwanda is “one of the safest countries in the world”.
Last year, more than 28,000 migrants and refugees crossed from continental Europe to the UK, a number that has been growing year after year: there were 8,466 crossings in 2020 and 299 in 2018, according to data from the Home Office.
Their arrival on rickety boats has been a source of tension between France and Britain, which has escalated since November, when 27 migrants drowned on the crossing. “About 600 people crossed the English Channel yesterday. In just a few weeks, that could reach 1,000 a day again,” Boris said on Thursday.
Interior Minister Priti Patel signed the partnership agreement with the Rwandan government in Kigali, capital of the African country, on Thursday.
In an interview with journalists at the time of the announcement, Rwandan Chancellor Vincent Biruta stated that Rwanda’s recent history has “a profound connection with the plight of those seeking security and opportunity in a new land”. The country has already received about 130,000 refugees from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Afghanistan and Libya, according to him.
Migrants will be placed on a temporary basis in hostels and hotels while they await the legal process of applying for asylum, the government said.
There was also resistance in the political milieu in Rwanda. Opposition leader Victoire Ingabire said the country is hospitable but must first resolve its internal problems.
