Boris Johnson’s government has signed an agreement to send Rwanda to “tens of thousands & rdquor; of immigrants illegally entering the UK by crossing the English Channel. Those without papers who land on the British coast in small clandestine boats will be sent by plane “with a one-way ticket” to internment camps more than 6,000 kilometers away, in the Central African country that the United Kingdom itself asked to investigate last year at the UN for alleged bad treatments, disappearances, murders and torture. Johnson, however, described it as “one of the safest countries in the world.”
The new tactic to get rid of the undocumented is highly controversial and will come up against strong practical and legal barriers, as Johnson himself acknowledged. “It will not be done overnight.” Opposition parties and organizations such as Amnesty International or Refugee Action have repudiated a scheme “chilling”, “cruel”, “inhuman”, “impracticable” and “extremely expensive”, without it going to serve to stop the flow of people seeking refuge.
“Humanitarian reasons”
“If they go down that road, if they cross the English Channel illegally on those boats, they risk ending up not in the UK, but in Rwanda.” declared the prime minister. The new provision would fundamentally affect men traveling alone. In theory they would remain in the African country until their asylum request in the United Kingdom was resolved or until they were returned to their country of origin. Johnson traveled to Kent on Thursday, the region where the illegal boats arrive, to present a plan conceived, “for humanitarian reasons & rdquor; and “done possible thanks to the freedoms of Brexit”. The plan, negotiated for nine months with the Kigali authorities by the Minister of the Interior, Pritti Patel, which traveled to the Rwandan capital to sign the agreement, will have an initial cost of 120 million pounds (144 million euros). Patel explained that Rwanda has received 130,000 refugees from multiple countries and has shown “respect for those people by allowing them to restart their lives.”
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In addition to the shipments to Rwanda, the government proposes the imposition of prison sentences that can reach life imprisonment, to smugglers of immigrants. Royal Navy troops have gone on to reinforce the controls in the Canal and 60 million will be allocated to improve the equipment of the personnel who monitor the coast.
Partygate Distraction
Politically, Johnson, back on the tightrope, is clear that this giant leap in immigration enforcement tactics will please many of his voters and Brexit MPs. The prime minister announces the plan when calls are renewed for his resignation after receiving a first fine, which may not be the only one, for his participation in Downing Street parties during confinement. “It is by itself a despicable policy, but to that is added the fact that it is presented today to distract us from Partygate & rdquor ;, Scotland’s Chief Minister Nicola Sturgeon noted. “It is revealed moral bankruptcy of the Tory government. A shame & rdquor ;.