Sunak vows to start Rwanda deportations
BRITISH Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised yesterday to start sending asylum seekers to Rwanda within 10 to 12 weeks, telling the upper house of parliament he will force the new legislation through despite its opposition to the plan.
Sunak said the government had booked commercial charter planes and trained staff to take migrants to Rwanda, a policy he hopes will boost his Conservative Party’s flagging fortunes before an election later this year.
After weeks of opposition in the House of Lords upper house which wants to introduce safeguards to the divisive legislation, Sunak said the government would force parliament to sit late into last night if necessary to get it passed. “No ifs, no buts. These flights are going to Rwanda,” Sunak said.
Tens of thousands of migrants – many fleeing wars and poverty in Africa, the Middle East and Asia – have reached Britain in recent years by crossing the English Channel in small boats on risky journeys organised by people-smuggling gangs.
Stopping the flow is a prime goal for the government, but critics say the plan to deport people to Rwanda is inhumane and that the East African country is not a safe place.
Other European countries, including Austria and Germany, are also looking at agreements to process asylum seekers abroad.
In Britain, the move has been held up repeatedly by the unelected House of Lords. The legislation was due to return to the House of Commons yesterday – the elected lower house – where MPs are to remove changes proposed by the Lords and then it will return to the upper chamber.
Some Labour and cross-party peers want the legislation to include safeguards for Afghans who previously helped British troops and a committee to monitor asylum seekers’ safety in Rwanda.
Sunak said the government was ready to move fast as soon as the legislation was passed.
An airfield was on standby, slots were booked for flights and 500 staff were ready to escort migrants to Rwanda, he said. “These flights will go, come what may.”
Under the policy any asylum seeker who arrives illegally in Britain will be sent to Rwanda in a scheme the government says will deter Channel crossings and smash the people smugglers’ business model.