ISLAMABAD/KIGALI: Britain’s interior minister defended a controversial plan by the UK government to deport asylum seekers arriving in the country to Rwanda during a visit to the African country Saturday, when she inspected the centres where they would be held.
Speaking to journalists at a joint news conference with Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta after visiting the Bwiza estate where the centre for the resettled migrants was being built, Suella Braverman said “many countries around the world are grappling with record-breaking numbers of illegal migrants.”
She added the agreement will pave way for finding a solution which is both humanitarian and compassionate as well as fair and balanced.
Referring to the centre being built for migrants, the British Home Secretary said she was “incredibly impressed” with what she had seen.
Meanwhile, Biruta also defended the agreement signed between the UK and Rawanda and said that it will not only help dismantle criminal human-smuggling networks, but also save lives.
Britain’s bid to stop migrant arrivals
The UK’s conservative government has made countering illegal immigration a priority – a key pledge as the country left the European Union. It seeks to outlaw asylum claims by all illegal arrivals and transport them to “safe” third countries, such as Rwanda, in an attempt to stop thousands of migrants from crossing the Channel on small boats.
Over 45,000 migrants arrived in southeast England on small boats in 2022 – a 60% annual increase on a dangerous route that has been used by more people each year since 2018.
British government, which is trailing in opinion polls, has been struggling for years to tackle the crossings. It was hopeful that the threat of a one-way ticket to Rwanda, where migrants were to remain if accepted for asylum, would prevent the cross-Channel journeys.
However, the plan, announced last year by the then prime minister Boris Johnson, was blocked at the last moment by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) – a body separate to the EU.
The government’s scheme is still stuck in appeals in the High Court in London with no deportation flights to Rwanda taken place till date.
On Saturday, thousands of people marched across various cities in Britain, including London, Glasgow and Cardiff, to protest against the plan, with demonstrators carrying signs reading “no human being is illegal” and “Safe passage, not Rwanda”.
Some British media including the BBC and The Guardian newspaper were not invited to cover the interior minister’s visit to Rwanda. — AFP/APP
