Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to transfer boat migrants to Rwanda may only see 300 deported to the African nation per year, according to a leaked government analysis.
Modelling conducted by Priti Patel’s Home Office, which is responsible for enforcing immigration laws in Britain — or not, as the case may be — has suggested that only around 300 illegals would be sent to Rwanda anually, according to The Times of London.
The paper noted that if the analysis proves correct, then it would take 34 years to remove just 10,000 migrants from the country — while over 28,000 arrived by boat just last year, on top of tens of thousands more who arrived by other clandestine means or overstayed their visas.
The newspaper of record also pointed out that fewer than 300 bogus asylum seekers per year were deported under the European Union’s Dublin Regulation over the last six years in which Britain was a party to it, with the new rules on when migrants can be transferred to Rwanda being designed along similar lines.
The Home Office, for its part, has denied knowledge of this internal report and tried to debunk reporting on it by stating that there is no cap on the number of migrants who can be removed under the Rwanda deal — perhaps somewhat disingenuously, as it could be true that only 300 or so migrants a year are expected to be deported using it even if it is theoretically uncapped.
“The entire government is united in our efforts to prevent lethal crossings, save lives and disrupt illegal migration,” a spokesman claimed, despite years of rising illegal immigration and a collapse in deportations.
So far this year, over 7,300 illegals have arrived on British shores after crossing the English Channel in small boats. The pace of illegal journeys across the busy waterway have dramatically increased over the past two years and estimates have projected that as many as 100,000 could land on British soil this year.
In order to act as a deterrent to the growing problem, Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government announced last month that it had signed an agreement with Rwanda for migrants to be hosted in that country while their asylum claims are being processed, rather than in taxpayer-funded accommodations in the United Kingdom.
The plan has seen considerable pushback, from both the left and right, with social justice advocates including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby criticising the plan as inhumane and against “God’s will”.
Sceptics on the right, including Brexit leader Nigel Farage, have warned that the £120 million agreement with Rwanda will be ineffective due to the United Kingdom still being bound by the European Court on Human Rights — leaving the plan vulnerable to legal challenges from activist lawyers.
Commenting on the alleged Home Office analysis of the scheme, Mr Farage wrote on Friday: “If the Rwanda policy only leads to 300 deportations there will be real anger. Johnson made a big promise.”
Earlier this week, the arch-Brexiteer warned that if migrants do not start being deported to Rwanda in short order, the Johnson government will face dire electoral consequences. Reports are emerging that it may take months before a single removal flight lifts off the ground.
Farage noted that there are “one million households on the social housing list in the UK today – many of them in Red Wall seats. They cannot understand why Johnson isn’t doing more to help them” as the government continues to put up migrants in hotels or other taxpayer-funded housing.
The stated goal of the plan to send illegal migrants to Rwanda is to deter others from making the dangerous journey across the English Channel, but reports have emerged of migrants in camps in France saying that they are unfazed by the threat — perhaps because there is no evidence it is actually being carried out.
Despite some Conservatives previously attempting to claim that the Rwanda plan had already begun acting as a deterrent, with an 11-day pause in boats being witnessed, the dinghies once again began setting off from France over the Bank Holiday weekend, which saw over 550 brought ashore in just two days.
Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka
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