UK-Rwanda asylum scheme blasted as 'ill-conceived'

 

People seeking asylum in the UK will be relocated to Rwanda under a controversial new scheme blasted by international human rights groups as shockingly ill-conceived and contrary to international obligations.

 

The pilot scheme will focus on single men arriving on boats or lorries.

 

Speaking at a joint news conference in the Rwandan capital Kigali on Thursday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the £120 million scheme would save countless lives from human trafficking.

 

Starting April 14, the new Migration and Economic Development Partnership will mean that anyone entering the UK illegally as well as those who have arrived illegally since January 1, may now be relocated to Rwanda. 

 

"This innovative approach, driven by our shared humanitarian impulse and made possible by Brexit freedoms, will provide safe and legal routes for asylum while disrupting the business model of the gangs, because it means that economic migrants taking advantage of the asylum system will not get to stay in the UK while those in genuine need will be properly protected, including with access to legal services on arrival in Rwanda and given the opportunity to build a new life in that dynamic country, supported by the funding we are providing," Mr. Johnson outlined.