AFP – Britain’s interior minister defended a controversial plan to deport asylum seekers arriving in the United Kingdom (UK) to Rwanda during a visit there on Saturday, when she inspected the centres where they will be held.
“Many countries around the world are grappling with unprecedented numbers of illegal migrants,” said Suella Braverman.
The agreement between Britain and Rwanda “will lead the way in finding a solution which is both humanitarian and compassionate and also fair and balanced”, she added.
Braverman was speaking after a visit to the Bwiza estate where the centre for the resettled migrants is being built, and declared herself “incredibly impressed” with what she had seen.
She spoke to journalists at a news conference attended by Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, who also defended the agreement signed between the two countries.
“This will not only help dismantle criminal human-smuggling networks, but also save lives,” he said.
The UK’s conservative government has made tackling illegal immigration a priority, and it was a key promise as the country left the European Union.
It is seeking to outlaw asylum claims by all illegal arrivals and transfer them to “safe” third countries, such as Rwanda, in a bid to stop thousands of migrants from crossing the Channel on small boats.
Britain had hoped the threat of a one-way ticket to Rwanda, where migrants would remain if accepted for asylum, would deter the cross-Channel journeys.
But that plan, announced by the then prime minister Boris Johnson last year, was blocked at the last minute by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), which is separate to the European Union.
The government scheme is still mired in appeals in the High Court in London. To date, no deportation flights to Rwanda have taken place.
