UK-Rwanda immigration deal: The UK has announced a controversial plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Thursday that the plan was “driven by our shared humanitarian stimulus and made possible by Brexit independence” and that Rwanda would “be able to resettle tens of thousands of people” with the help of the UK. In the years to come. “

He spoke at a joint news conference Thursday in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. UK Home Secretary Priti Patel He said displaced people in Rwanda would be “supported for up to five years with training, integration, shelter and health care so that they can resettle and prosper.”
Patel He also called the plan a “joint new migration and economic development partnership”, saying the UK was “making a significant investment in Rwanda’s economic growth”.

Patel stressed that the purpose of the agreement was to improve the UK asylum system in the face of “real humanitarian crises and the plundering of evil people by using this system for their own gain”.

When asked by a reporter what the criteria for relocation were, Patel said, “We are very clear that all those who enter the UK illegally will be resettled and brought to Rwanda. I will not release a specific number. Reasons.”

Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Bruda said Rwanda was pleased to work with the United Kingdom.

When asked if Rwanda has the infrastructure, Bruta said the country has the potential to receive immigrants and will invest in new infrastructure to educate and stay immigrants with the support of the UK.

He added that the scheme was only for asylum seekers in the UK and those in the UK and that they “do not want to get people from immediate neighbors like DRC, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania”.

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‘Trade as commodities’

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) expressed “strong opposition and concerns” about the plan and urged both countries to reconsider.

“People fleeing war, conflict and persecution deserve compassion and sympathy. They should not be traded as goods and transferred overseas for processing,” said UNHCR Assistant High Commissioner for Defense Gillian Trix in a statement.

UNHCR is strongly opposed to attempts to transfer refugees and asylum seekers to third countries in the absence of adequate protections and standards. Such arrangements simply shift asylum responsibilities, avoid international obligations, and are contrary to the writing and attitude of refugees. Conference, “said Trix.

The UNHCR said the plan would increase risks, lead refugees to seek alternative routes and put more pressure on frontline states.

“Experience has shown that these agreements are generally eye-catching and often in violation of international law. Thursday.

Human Rights Watch strongly criticized the plan and issued harsh words Report.

“Rwanda’s horrific human rights record is well documented,” it said.

“It directly raises its concerns about human rights abuses in Rwanda, targeting illegal killings, suspicious deaths, illegal or arbitrary detention, torture and misdemeanors, especially critics and protesters. It also provides refuge for Rwandans who fled the country, including four last year.” It added that “while the people of England have opened their hearts and homes to the Ukrainians, the government has chosen to act brutally. Tear off their duties to others who have escaped war and persecution.”

Steve Waltz-Symonds, Amnesty International UK’s director of refugee and immigration rights, described the plan as a “shocking misconception”.

“Sending people to another country – let alone someone with such a bad human rights record – is the pinnacle of asylum processing and shows how far the government is now from humanity and reality on asylum issues,” Waltz said. – Symonds said Report.

As part of the new plan, Johnson said, the British Royal Navy would take over the Border Force’s operational command on the English Channel “with the intention that no boat would go undetected to England.”

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It allows UK authorities to say that anyone who drives a boat can be sentenced to life imprisonment.

The English Channel, a narrow waterway between Britain and France, is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world. Refugees and migrants fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty in poorer or war-torn countries of the world face the dangerous risk of crossing the border, often in dinghyes unfit for travel and at the mercy of human traffickers in the hope of seeking asylum or economic opportunities in the UK.

Last November, 27 people drowned Following the capsizing of an inflatable boat carrying migrants to Britain, one of the worst incidents on the English Channel in recent years has been in severe cold waters off the coast of France.

CNN’s Cara Fox and Helen Reagan contributed to the report.

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