The British Home Office announced this Wednesday that it has already detained the first undocumented migrants to be sent to Rwanda, as part of a controversial immigration plan aimed at deterring illegal immigration to the United Kingdom.
The ministry said that the arrests, the number of which it did not specify, were made in several operations throughout the country, which will continue in the coming days, after Parliament last week approved considering Rwanda a “safe country” to send the potential refugees. He also indicated that commercial planes have already been reserved to make charter flights as well as an airport, with the expectation that they will be chartered in the coming weeks.
The Labor Party criticized the Government for making this announcement on the eve of the municipal by-elections being held on Thursday in England, in which the Conservatives face defeat. “This is a tiny program at an exorbitant cost and criminal (human trafficking) gangs will catch on to this scam,” a spokesperson said.
The Minister of the Interior, James Cleverly, said for his part that the pact with Kigali to welcome asylum seekers who arrive in British territory through irregular routes “is a pioneering response to the global challenge of illegal immigration.”
“Our dedicated teams are working at pace to quickly apprehend those who have no right to be here so flights can take off,” he said. “This is a complex task, but we remain absolutely committed to making the initiative operational, in order to stop the boats (coming from France through the English Channel) and put an end to the business model of drug trafficking gangs. people,” he added.
Previously, British media reported on Wednesday that an asylum seeker whose application was denied here has been voluntarily sent to Rwanda under a program different from the new migration plan. Under this other mechanism that has existed since 2022, 3,000 pounds (3,500 euros) are offered in financial aid to those who agree to be deported or repatriated to their countries.
On April 22, London approved the controversial law that will allow irregular migrants from the United Kingdom to be sent to Rwanda.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said after the approval of the text that “nothing will stand in the way” of his objective of sending migrants who have crossed the English Channel irregularly to Rwanda. And he announced that flights with asylum seekers would begin to take off in ten or twelve weeks.
London has paid Kigali an initial amount of 220 million pounds sterling (more than 255 million euros) and has committed a further 370 million (about 429 million euros) as compensation for sending asylum seekers to Rwanda for five years.
The Rwandan Government expects to receive more than 5,000 migrants in 2024, who will be granted asylum or permanent residence in the African country, with some thirteen million inhabitants. Migrants will not be able to apply to return to the UK and, under the agreement, will not be able to be sent out of Rwanda.
