Garfield Ekon
Staff Writer
#UnitedKingdom, July 19, 2024 – With the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), Keir Starmer declaring the Rwanda deportation plan as “gimmick,” and “was dead and buried before it started,” the East African country has responded tersely.
In his first news conference on Saturday, the new PM said the controversial policy will be scrapped, as “it was never acted as a deterrent. Almost the opposite,” to migrants from risking their lives on the high seas.
The Rwanda deportation plan once was designed by the previous Conservative Government and billed as a solution that would deter migrants. In a statement late Monday, the office of the Rwandan Government spokesman said the deal had been initiated by the UK “to address the crisis of irregular migration affecting the UK, a problem of the UK, not Rwanda,” the statement said.
For years, the UK Government has been struggling to stem the flow of migrants arriving across the English Channel. It has already given the Rwandan Government hundreds of millions of pounds to set up accommodation, and hire extra officials to process the
PM Starmer said his administration will create a Border Security Command that would bring together staff from the police, the domestic intelligence agency, and prosecutors to work with international agencies, and stop people smuggling.
Suella Braverman, a Conservative hard liner on immigration who is a possible contender to replace the former Conservative Leader, has blasted Starmer’s plan to end Rwandan deal.
“Years of hard work, acts of Parliament, millions of pounds been spent on a scheme which had it been delivered properly would have worked,” she said, adding that there are “big problems” on the horizon which will be, “I’m afraid, caused by Keir Starmer.”
Chief Executive Officer of Freedom from Torture, Sonya Sceats, one of the many organisations and charities which have campaigned to stop the Rwandan plan, has welcomed the decision to “close the doors on this shameful scheme, that played politics with the lives of people fleeing torture and prosecution,” she said.
Supporters of the plan said it would have smashed the model of people traffickers, while critics have argued that the Rwandan policy was immoral and would never work. Last November, the UP Supreme Court declared the policy as unlawful, as Rwanda could not be considered a safe third country.
The legality of the deal was also being challenged by charities and unions in the court.
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