British Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced last week that the U.K. had reached an agreement with Rwanda worth $157 million to fly individuals who illegally migrate to the U.K. to Rwanda so they can be resettled in the African nation.
“Uncontrolled immigration creates unmanageable demands on our NHS and our welfare state, it overstretches our local schools, our housing and public transport, and creates unsustainable pressure to build on precious green spaces,” Johnson said in a speech last week. “Nor is it fair on those who are seeking to come here legally, if others can just bypass the system.”
Johnson noted that those attempting to arrive in the U.K. by boat “are not directly fleeing imminent peril as is the intended purpose of our asylum system” and that if they were they had “passed through manifestly safe countries, including many in Europe, where they could – and should – have claimed asylum.”
Johnson noted that British citizens had voted several times for the nation to get a grip on the illegal immigration problem that has plagued it, that those who make the journey are being exploited by smugglers and that they are putting their own lives at risk by making the voyage as many end up drowning.
Johnson announced tens of millions of dollars worth of new funding for the Royal Navy, which will take over operational command from Border Force in the Channel, so that it has the resources needed to tackle the challenge. The infusion of cash will be used to fund “new boats, aerial surveillance and military personnel in addition to the existing taskforce of patrol vessels, Wildcat helicopters, search and rescue aircraft, drones and remotely piloted aircraft.”
Then, claiming that Rwanda was “one of the safest countries in the world,” Johnson announced:
So from today, our new Migration and Economic Development Partnership will mean that anyone entering the UK illegally – as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1st – may now be relocated to Rwanda.
This innovative approach – driven our shared humanitarian impulse and made possible by Brexit freedoms – will provide safe and legal routes for asylum, while disrupting the business model of the gangs, because it means that economic migrants taking advantage of the asylum system will not get to stay in the UK, while those in genuine need will be properly protected, including with access to legal services on arrival in Rwanda, and given the opportunity to build a new life in that dynamic country, supported by the funding we are providing.
The deal we have done is uncapped and Rwanda will have the capacity to resettle tens of thousands of people in the years ahead.
“Rwanda welcomes this partnership with the United Kingdom to host asylum seekers and migrants, and offer them legal pathways to residence” in the East African nation, Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta said in a statement. “This is about ensuring that people are protected, respected, and empowered to further their own ambitions and settle permanently in Rwanda if they choose.”