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Topics: UK News, News, Boris Johnson, Politics
Charisa Bossinakis
Asylum seekers arriving in the UK via the English Channel will be sent 6,000 miles away to Rwanda for government processing.
UK Home Secretary Priti Patel flew to Africa to finalise the ‘migration and economic development partnership’ agreement in the hope it will halt Channel crossing for refugees.
According to Sky News, charities have slammed the deal as ‘cruel and nasty’ because it will only ensure ‘more human suffering and chaos’ while costing £1.4 billion.
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The new initiative comes as the UK Prime Minister warns that the number of refugees crossing the Channel is escalating.
Boris Johnson is expected to announce the deal later today (April 14) and he's expected to say there could be up to 1,000 asylum seekers making the treacherous journey every day in the next few weeks.
"I accept that these people - whether 600 or 1,000 - are in search of a better life, the opportunities that the United Kingdom provides and the hope of a fresh start," he will say, according to The Telegraph.
"But it is these hopes - these dreams - that have been exploited.
“These vile people smugglers are abusing the vulnerable and turning the Channel into a watery graveyard, with men, women and children drowning in unseaworthy boats and suffocating in refrigerated lorries."
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Mr Johnson is also expected to say how a majority of Britain voted for Brexit under the guise it would make the UK tougher on immigration.
"Our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not," he will say.
No. 10 also issued a statement that read: “The home secretary will set out further details on a world-first migration and economic development partnership signed by the home secretary, Priti Patel, with Rwanda – one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa which is recognised globally for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants.”
According to the Guardian, asylum seekers flown to Rwanda for processing will be encouraged to remain there to start a new life.
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The new agreement has been criticised by the shadow residence secretary Yvette Cooper, who noted the scheme was not productive in finding a safe home for migrants, while also intensifying the ‘cost of living’ for many in the UK.
“It is an unworkable, unethical and extortionate policy that would cost the UK taxpayer billions of pounds during a cost of living crisis and would make it harder not easier to get fast and fair asylum decisions,” she said.
This comes in the wake of the British government copping serious criticism for their slow visa process for Ukrainians fleeing the war-torn country; with their efforts labelled as ‘woeful’.