UK to give asylum seekers one-way ticket to Rwanda

[Crazedwraith]

I couldn't just leave this one for the UK politics thread because... wow.

Some asylum seekers who cross the Channel to the UK will be given a one-way ticket to Rwanda, under new government plans.

The trial will involve mostly single men arriving on boats or lorries.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the £120m scheme would "save countless lives" from human trafficking.

Refugee organisations have criticised the plan as cruel, questioned its cost and efficacy, and raised concerns about Rwanda's human rights record.

In a speech in Kent, Mr Johnson argued action was needed to stop "vile people smugglers" turning the ocean into a "watery graveyard", adding the "humane and compassionate" plan was designed to break their business model.

He said he wanted to make clear to people arriving on the Kent coast they were better off taking legal routes and that the new plan would "over time prove a very considerable deterrent".

Last year, 28,526 people are known to have crossed in small boats, up from 8,404 in 2020.

Around 600 people made the crossing on Wednesday, and Mr Johnson said the figure could reach 1,000 a day within weeks.

Mr Johnson said the scheme would be uncapped, affect those who arrived illegally since 1 January, and potentially involve tens of thousands in the coming years.

The BBC has seen accommodation the asylum seekers will be housed in, thought to have enough space for around 100 people at a time and to process up to 500 a year.

"We cannot sustain a parallel illegal system," the prime minister said. "Our compassion may be infinite, but our capacity to help people is not."

Home Secretary Priti Patel travelled to the Rwandan capital Kigali to sign the deal.

Exporting our issues to other countries and... explicit referring being send to Rwanda as a deterrent. wow.

[Juubi Karakuchi]

I wondered what the heck they could have offered Rwanda to make them agree to this. Then I saw £120 million.

Doing a little reading around the issue, I learned that Denmark made a similar agreement, but hasn't actually sent anyone.

I'm thinking Rwanda agreed to this in a calculated gamble that Britain would not actually send anyone; thus allowing them to collect £120 million in return for doing nothing.

As for Bojo, this looks suspiciously like ill-considered and very expensive posturing. He's mired in scandal, so he's trying to shore up support by playing the tough guy on immigration. But such measures have been spoken of before - including putting the Navy in charge of stopping the boats - and little or nothing actually happens.

Whether it will help him much is yet to be seen.

[GuppyShark]

Ahh, the Australian 'solution' to undocumented immigration. Why is that the only thing we export except coal.

[Batman]

Ahh, the Australian 'solution' to undocumented immigration. Why is that the only thing we export except coal.

What else do you have to export? Your excessively hot weather? We're already getting that. Your excessively agressive and dangerous wildlife ? nobody wants that!

[Raw Shark]

Ahh, the Australian 'solution' to undocumented immigration. Why is that the only thing we export except coal.

What else do you have to export? Your excessively hot weather? We're already getting that. Your excessively agressive and dangerous wildlife ? nobody wants that!

Based on my (limited) experiences with Australian women, we could use some more of that around here. Y'know, if you're looking for ideas.

[GuppyShark]

I was being facetious - we produce some of the world's best wine, a huge amount of wheat and other agricultural products, the mining sector is enormous, and natural gas in addition to coal and other fossil fuels.
It would be nice if bad ideas weren't added to the list.