The U.K. government announced its plan to send some asylum seekers who enter the country through the English Channel to Rwanda, thousands of miles away.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the new measure was to stop “vile people smugglers (who) are abusing the vulnerable and turning the Channel into a watery graveyard.”
The U.K. intends to deploy the Royal Navy to patrol the channel and intercept vessels setting off from the French coast.
“It’s a striking fact that around 7 out of 10 of those arriving in small boats last year were men under 40, paying people smugglers to queue-jump and taking up our capacity to help genuine women and child refugees,” Johnson said.
“This is particularly perverse as those attempting crossings are not directly fleeing imminent peril as is the intended purpose of our asylum system. They have passed through manifestly safe countries, including many in Europe, where they could — and should — have claimed asylum,” he continued.
At least 28,000 people entered the U.K. on small boats last year.
Human Rights Watch is concerned about the care asylum seekers will receive once they have been shipped to Rwanda.
“Refugees have been abused in Rwanda and the government has, at times, kidnapped Rwandan refugees outside the country to bring them home to face trial and ill-treatment,” said Lewis Mudge, HRW’s Central Africa director.
The Rwandan government said Britain had paid 120 million pounds ($158 million) upfront to pay for housing and integrating the migrants for up to five years.
Rwandan Foreign Affairs Minister Vincent Biruta said the arrangement “is about ensuring that people are protected, respected, and empowered to further their own ambitions and settle permanently in Rwanda if they choose,” adding that Rwanda is already home to more than 130,000 refugees from countries including Burundi, Congo, Libya and Pakistan.
