The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, also a spiritual leader of the world Anglican Communion, condemned a measure by the United Kingdom that allows sending immigrants who enter the country irregularly to seek asylum in Rwanda, a country in the center of the African continent.
During his Easter Sunday sermon at Canterbury Cathedral, Justin Welby said the plan announced last week by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson faced “serious ethical issues”.
“It cannot bear the weight of our national responsibility as a country formed by Christian values, because subcontracting our responsibilities, even to a country that seeks to do well like Rwanda, is the opposite of the nature of God who took responsibility for our failures,” said Archbishop Justin Welby, spiritual leader of the world Anglican Communion, which has some 85 million devotees.
The government has said it will send migrants who enter the country irregularly to seek asylum in Rwanda, a country 7,000 kilometers away and which 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 Boris Johnson to carry out the Brexit process in 2016.
The move, however, drew immediate criticism from political circles, charities and human rights organizations — and even the opposition in Rwanda. There are also concerns about the history of human rights abuses in the African country, recognized by the British government itself last year.
To put the measure in place, the British Royal Navy will take charge of the operation with refugees in the English Channel and the Executive will invest 50 million pounds (R$ 307 million) in personnel and equipment such as helicopters, planes and drones.
Immigrants will be placed in Rwanda on a temporary basis in hostels and hotels while they await the legal process of applying for asylum.
In 2021, 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 the Home Office.
Arriving 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.
Boris Johnson nearly stepped down as prime minister earlier this year after he was mired in allegations of breaking quarantine rules during the country’s worst Covid-19 season and lost support from members of his own party. Last Tuesday (12), he was fined by the London police, reigniting the controversy.
