Great Britain - New Prime Minister Starmer wants to stop Rwanda deportation project
United Kingdom will not send irregular migrants to Rwanda. New 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 Labour Party had already announced during the campaign to withdraw the Rwanda program.
Sunak wanted to send people who came to the UK without the necessary documents, disregarding their origin, to Rwanda. They were supposed to apply for asylum there, a return to the UK was excluded. Critics saw this as a breach of international obligations.
The Rwanda deal cost taxpayers several millions already
Thousands of people reach the British coast irregularly every year, mostly in small boats. The accommodation in hotels and other accommodations costs taxpayers billions. Sunak's conservative government hoped that the Rwanda plan would deter migrants. However, the number of arrivals has recently increased again.
The deal with Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whom critics accuse of human rights violations, has cost British taxpayers several hundred million pounds so far. In return, no migrant was sent against their will to East Africa.
- Despite Keir Starmer's declaration that the Rwanda migration plan is "dead and buried," some critics question the impact on the UK's migration policy during the election campaign.
- The Prime Minister's office, located in Downing Street, London, has been a hub of discussions regarding the Rwanda asylum pact and its subsequent cancellation.
- The controversial cornerstone of Rishi Sunak's predecessor's migration policy, the Rwanda asylum deal, was intended to provide asylum to migrants who entered Great Britain illegally.
- Keir Starmer and the Labour Party, during their election campaign, pledged to dismantle the asylum pact, which Sunak's government had established with Rwanda's President Paul Kagame.
- The Great Britain taxpayers have endured substantial costs from the Rwanda deal, including millions spent on the plan's establishment and the accommodation of migrants in different facilities.
- Despite the financial burden and criticism from human rights advocates, the Rwanda asylum plan failed to significantly reduce the number of migrants arriving in London from irregular routes.
