Britain abandons the plan to deport asylum seekers to Africa

Ker Starmer, the new British Prime Minister, announced that his newly formed government will not follow the previous policy of deporting refugees to Rwanda, and since this plan is “not a deterrent”, he will end such a process. 

According to Reuters, Starmer announced at a press conference: “The Rwanda plan was dead and buried before it started.” This plan has never worked and stopped small boats from entering England. 

The plan to deport asylum seekers from England to Rwanda, which is located in East Africa, was first proposed in April 2022. According to this plan, people who were identified as “illegal immigrants” by the British government were supposed to be sent to Rwanda for asylum and resettlement. Despite the many controversies over this plan, British government data showed that the number of people entering the country illegally through the English Channel has increased in the first 5 months of this year compared to the same period last year. This statistic meant that Rishi Sunak’s government has not succeeded in stopping the arrival of refugees.

Also before that, a published government document revealed that thousands of asylum seekers who were supposed to be sent to Rwanda by the British Home Office have gone missing. At the time, experts announced that these people had deliberately gone into hiding or gone to Ireland to avoid being sent to Africa. The Labor Party described the situation as “ridiculous” and said that such an incident reveals the government’s “complete lack of control” over the asylum system.

Translator: Zahra Najafi