The British government’s scheme to send illegal boat migrants to Rwanda is planned to commence on June 14th, Home Secretary Priti Patel announced on Wednesday.
The first round of illegal migrants who are set to be flown to asylum seeker holding centres in Rwanda have been informed by the government that they will be sent to the East African state in two weeks.
Announcing the planned start date of the Rwanda scheme, Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “Our world-leading partnership with Rwanda is a key part of our strategy to overhaul the broken asylum system and break the evil people smugglers’ business model.
“Today’s announcement is another critical step towards delivering that partnership and, while we know attempts will now be made to frustrate the process and delay removals, I will not be deterred and remain fully committed to delivering what the British public expect.”
It remains to be seen if the flights will actually take off on the 14th, with leftist charities and activist lawyers vowing to launch preventative legal actions to keep the illegals on British soil. Groups such as Care4Calais and Detention Action have announced a joint legal action with the Public and Commercial Services Union to protest the move.
Meanwhile, the left-wing opposition Labour Party accused the government of trying to garner positive headlines with the announcement to distract from the persistent Partygate lockdown scandals bedevilling the Boris Johnson administration.
Labour’s shadow Home Secretary, Yvette Cooper said: “The Rwanda scheme isn’t about deterring the criminal gangs or small boat crossings, it’s about chasing headlines regardless of reality.
“This is a completely unworkable, extortionately expensive, and deeply un-British policy. There is no proper process for identifying people who have been trafficked or tortured.”
With another 249 illegals being brought ashore on Tuesday, the total for the year is quickly approaching 10,000 crossings of the English Channel. According to calculations from The Guardian, there have been 4,850 landings since the Rwanda plan was announced in April, more that two and half times that crossed during the same time period last year.
The dramatic increase of illegal boat migration — which doesn’t account for other forms of illegal immigration, including visa overstays and clandestine lorry arrivals — has seen warnings that as many as 100,000 could arrive this year.
This week a report from GB News claimed that as a result of the growing migrant crisis, the Home Office is booking 30,000 hotel rooms to accommodate migrants every week.
The report comes as the backlog of alleged asylum seekers waiting on a ruling of their refugee status has jumped by a staggering 300 per cent over the past four years.
The hotel scheme, which was greatly expanded during the upswing in boat migration and the Chinese coronavirus pandemic, has previously seen violent outbursts from illegals, with a Sudanese migrant going on a stabbing spree in Glasgow after complaining about the free food and board he received at taxpayer expense.
While Prime Minister Boris Johnson has claimed that the relocation plan would see thousands of illegal aliens removed from the country, an internal review conducted by the Home Office reportedly predicted that as few as 300 would be shipped out per year.
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