Russia-Ukraine war: London may deport Ukrainian refugees to Rwanda because “they entered without a visa”

Brexit won in Britain because of the obsession with the working class in Britain against migrants and foreigners in the kingdom, who felt that they were competing with their job possibilities and landed through the European Union. Now the kingdom is lacking in labor since no Briton wants to work for the lowest hourly wage. Hotels, restaurants, agriculture and fruit harvesting are suffering. They could not find personnel due to immigration restrictions and Great Britain ended free movement from Europe.

But the Boris Johnson government is performing a hypocritical double standard before the world: support Ukraine in the war, open arms to Ukrainian refugees formally, but they will not be admitted if they do not have a visawhich delivers in drops, although there are 300,000 Britons who want to receive them at home.

Along with this seeking deportation to Rwanda to migrants, who came from France via the English Channel, aboard boats, where their requests for asylum would be processed, 17,000 kilometers from the kingdom to where they were already present.

Ukrainians could be sent to Rwanda because, faced with visa delays and desperation to reach safety, these single women fleeing the war with their children paid smugglers in northern France to get to the kingdom. using small boats.

British Interior Secretary Priti Patel, the son of an Indian migrant family who fled Uganda by Idi Amin, wants to send migrants to Rwanda. In the project Ukrainians will be included to come to the kingdom without papers, when in the rest of Europe and within two years, Ukrainians fleeing the war could live, reside, have accommodation and receive social assistance of the state immediately, without the slightest formality.

The expensive and unusual road to Rwanda

The controversial policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda does not save British taxpayers money. It costs approximately £ 12,000 ($ 14,684) for each person boarding a one-way flight, a Home Office Minister admitted to the House of Commons.

Tom Pursglove, the minister in charge of tackling illegal immigration on the UK Parliament’s select household affairs committee said the amount would be “similar” to the amount of public money it spends on the Home Office.process and accommodate each asylum seeker in the United Kingdom “.

The Home Office says “the policy will save money in the long run because reduce the number of people crossing the Canal in small boats. However, Pursglove admitted that the “deterrent effect” is “difficult to measure at this stage”, despite being the primary goal.

Neither he nor Daniel Hobbs, the Home Office official in charge of policy, could be pointed out no calculations that the deportation of immigrants to Rwanda would reduce the number of people crossing the Canal in small boats.

Nearly 8,000 people have traveled the Dover Strait this yearthe busiest in the world by large ships. More than tripled the number that came at this time last year. The Home Office analysis predicts that 65,000 will come in 2022.

relocation agreements

“The agreement reached by Priti Patel, the Interior Minister, with the Rwandan government in Kigali last month could the first of their transfer agreements “Pursglove told the committee.

“I doubt this is the last of these types of agreements to be reached, involving countries from around the world,” he said. “But I really think there will be a deterrent effect,” he said.

This is the content of the agreement: threatened to send them to Rwanda so that they dare not cross. The consequence was that migrants fled from the hotels and centers of Britain where they lived and they are hiding.

They lost their jobs in the British black labor market, where nor have identity documents, and so that they could not be deported. The procedure will make it illegal forever.

“Undocumented refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine may be considered for relocation to Rwanda »Hobbs told MPs.

Pursglove said it was “logical” that Rwanda’s policy would lead to a decrease in illegal crossings because it would destroy the business model of human traffickers, if migrants are unable to stay at their desired destination.

When asked what model was used to provide the “evidence basis for this decision”, the minister replied: “It this is a new policy Y Not tested right now. What is really clear is that we cannot continue with the status quo. “

Hobbs, director of asylum, protection and enforcement at the Home Office, said it was very difficult to predict the impact of the policy on reducing Channel crossings. The British Home Office has an “environmentally hostile” policy for migrants, initiated by then -Home Secretary Theresa May and perfected by Priti Patel, a tough Brexiteer.

Asked if the Home Office could come up with a model that MPs could test, Hobbs said: “No, you can make a hypothesis model as part of the evidence and to test the numbers. But defining the impact and migrants’ individual decisions are extremely complex. “

Ukrainians in Rwanda

Refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine without documentation could be relocated to Rwanda, a senior Interior Ministry official suggested.

Daniel Hobbs, director of asylum, protection and enforcement at the Home Office, could not rule out the possibility that Ukrainian refugees would be considered for the policy, where some migrants who illegally arrived in the UK would be put on a one- way flights to the UK. African countries.

“The Afghan interpreter who assisted British troops and landed in the kingdom may also be subject to relocation policy, ”he told the Commons home affairs committee. Hobbs told MPs that the only nationalities not included in deportation to the country were the Rwandans themselves.

Tom Pursglove, the minister tasked with tackling illegal immigration, was also unable to assure MPs that they were not included in the relocation policy.

Through Northern Ireland

Ireland policy to allow all refugees to flee the war in Ukraine travel without a visa has raised concerns that Northern Ireland is being used as a “a back door” to enter the UK for those lacking documentation or identification.

Ang common boundary area allows people to cross into Northern Ireland and mainland Great Britain no control. Non-Ukrainian citizens, fleeing the Russian invasion, are not eligible for the two UK custom visa schemes, which were put in place after the Russian invasion on 24 February.

Stuart McDonald, spokesman for the SNP’s internal affairs, asked Hobbs about Ukrainians crossing into Northern Ireland from Ireland: “Are they covered by this policy or not?” Hobbs replied, “Depending on individual circumstances, they may not meet the standard of ‘inadmissibility’.”

McDonald replied: “He will leave open the possibility that they could cross from Dublin to Belfast and possibly went to Rwanda.

Earlier, Dame Diana Johnson, chair of the committee, asked Pursglove whether Ukrainians who traveled to the UK aboard a small boat would face relocation to Rwanda. Pursglove replied: “There is really no reason where a Ukrainian has to board a small boat and pay a human trafficker to enter the UK. “

The two safe and legal routes that Ukrainian refugees can use to enter the UK, the Ukraine Family Scheme and the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, was affected by delays. Only 15,000 Ukrainians entered the kingdom of the 6 million who fled the country.

Paris, correspondent

ap