Migration - New Prime Minister Starmer stops deportations to Rwanda
United Kingdom will not send irregular migrants to Rwanda. New Labour Party Prime Minister Keir Starmer stated that the controversial plan of his conservative predecessor Rishi Sunak is "dead and buried". At the plans, it had only been about symbolic politics, Starmer said at a press conference in Downing Street in London.
The leader of the social democratic Labour Party had already announced during the campaign to cancel the Rwanda program.
Sunak wanted to deport people who came to the United Kingdom without the necessary papers, disregarding their origin, to Rwanda. They were supposed to apply for asylum there, a return to the United Kingdom was excluded. Critics saw in this a breach of international obligations.
Every year, tens of thousands of people reach the British coast irregularly, mostly in small boats. The accommodation in hotels and other shelters costs the taxpayers billions. Sunak's conservative government aimed that the Rwanda plan would deter migrants. However, the number of arrivals has recently risen again.
The deal with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whom critics accuse of human rights violations, has cost British taxpayers several hundred millions of pounds so far. In return, no migrant was deported against their will to East Africa.
- Despite the cancellation announced by Keir Starmer, Rishi Sunak's migration policy, which included sending irregular migrants to Rwanda, remains a topic of discussion.
- The election campaign of New Labour Party's Keir Starmer included a commitment to scrap the controversial Rwanda asylum plan initiated by his conservative predecessor, Rishi Sunak.
- The migration policy of the previous Conservative government, led by Rishi Sunak, proposed the deportation of migrants without proper documents to Rwanda for asylum application, with no return to the UK permitted.
- During an election campaign press conference at Downing Street in London, Keir Starmer declared that the Rwanda plan was "dead and buried," labeling it merely symbolic politics.
- Keir Starmer's criticism of Rishi Sunak's migration policy included charges of breaching international obligations, as many viewed the proposal as a violation of refugees' human rights.
- In the midst of controversies, the international agreement between the UK and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, which was meant to address asylum seeker arrivals in the UK, has cost British taxpayers over several hundred million pounds.
- Asylum seekers have continuously been reaching the UK coast irregularly, through small boats, for years, causing significant accommodation costs for the Government, estimated to be in billions per year.
- With the migration issue persisting and Keir Starmer serving as the Prime Minister of Great Britain, it remains to be seen whether the asylum pact with Rwanda will be revised or terminated entirely.
