United Kingdom’s new plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is being met with a lot of heat. The intent according to UK PM Boris Johnson is to prevent human trafficking especially of young men travelling on ferries and boats illegally entering Britain through the English Channel. Asylum seekers will be sent off the Rwanda on a one way flight within weeks of arriving into the UK.
“Anyone entering the UK illegally … may now be relocated to Rwanda,” Mr. Johnson’s formal statement confirms calling the scheme “an ‘innovative approach’, driven by our shared humanitarian impulse and made possible by Brexit freedoms.”
According to the United Nations, this initiative raises a huge number of human rights concerns and therefore doesn’t feel fair. Many other human rights groups have felt they are unfair, exploitative, unnecessary and expensive too.
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The move that comes as Johnson asserts will ‘save innumerable lives’ comes after United Kingdom has signed a deal with Rwanda to send some asylum seekers to this East African nation. According to a media statement made by Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Vincent Biruta, “The agreement seeks to ensure that people are protected, respected, and empowered to further their own ambitions and settle permanently in Rwanda if they choose to.”
This is obviously going to be a huge damper for those who were looking at asylum and a better standard of living in the UK. The UK has paid the Rwandan government £120 million for housing and integrating the migrants as part of the pilot scheme, which will initially last for five years. Under this new plan, people who arrive in Britain as stowaways in trucks or boats will be flown 6,400 kilometers to Rwanda, potentially for good. Once there, they will be assessed for eventual resettlement in the African nation.
