The Rwanda plan was one in every of former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s flagship insurance policies to attempt to cease migrants making harmful journeys throughout the English Channel. File. Photograph credit score: Reuters
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer mentioned on July 6 he was abandoning a controversial Conservative coverage of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda.
“The Rwanda plan was useless and buried earlier than it began,” Starmer mentioned at his first press convention. “It has by no means acted as a deterrent. Nearly the alternative.” The transfer was one in every of Starmer’s first actions in workplace, although it was extensively anticipated. He had mentioned throughout his marketing campaign that he would abandon the plan that has value tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} however was by no means carried out.
Learn additionally: Defined | Why did densely populated Rwanda conform to the UK’s plan to deport migrants?
Mr. Starmer made the announcement after holding his first cupboard assembly at 10 Downing St., the day after his Labour Social gathering’s landslide victory reversed 14 years of Conservative rule.
The Rwanda plan was one in every of former Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s flagship insurance policies to attempt to cease migrants making harmful Channel crossings.
Nevertheless it has confronted challenges over human rights points and has by no means managed to deport a single particular person regardless of spending tons of of thousands and thousands of {dollars} on a pact with the East African nation.
Suella Braverman, a hardline Tory on immigration who’s a potential candidate to switch Sunak as occasion chief, criticised Starmer’s early plan to finish the Rwanda deal.
“Years of onerous work, Acts of Parliament, thousands and thousands of kilos spent on a plan that, if applied accurately, would have labored,” he mentioned on Saturday earlier than making the announcement.
