British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced Thursday that the United Kingdom may send tens of thousands of asylum seekers to Rwanda, taking a tougher approach to stem the flow of migrants through the English Channel.
Immigration concerns were a big factor in the 2016 Brexit vote, and Johnson came under pressure to make good on his pledge to “take back control” of the UK’s borders. But the plan was criticized by the opposition and charities. (Read more about this at the end of the article).
“We must make sure that the only way to get asylum in the UK is safe and legal,” Johnson said in a speech in Kent, southeast England, where thousands of migrants landed in small boats on the shores of the English Channel last year.
“Those who try to skip the waiting list or abuse our systems will not find any automatic way to install them in our country, but will be transported quickly and humanely to a safe third country or their home country,” the prime minister said.
He said anyone who arrived in the UK illegally since Jan. 1 could now be transferred to Rwanda and Africa, which would disrupt the business model of people-smuggling gangs.
“The agreement we reached is not limited and Rwanda will have the capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the next few years,” he said.
The plan announced by Boris Johnson drew heavy criticism from the opposition. Labor said it was costly, “impractical and unethical”.
Concerns have also been raised about the human rights situation in Rwanda, something the British government itself indicated last year.
Boris Johnson said Rwanda was “one of the safest countries in the world”, adding, however, that the risk of it ending up in the African country would prove a “significant deterrent” over time to anyone trying to enter the UK.
