Last month, British Home Secretary Priti Patel signed an agreement in Kigali, Rwanda, to deter illegal Channel crossings. Today, the program is set up with the first shipments of migrants. The British Prime Minister said in an interview with DailyMail Saturday, May 14, that 50 migrants who arrived illegally in the territory will be sent to Rwanda.
With our correspondent in London, Sidonie Gaucher
Despite the criticism, the United Kingdom is preparing to launch its new immigration program which consists of sending tens of thousands of asylum seekers 5,000 km away, to Rwanda.
This agreement called “economic development partnership” was signed between London and Kigali last April, so that migrants and asylum seekers in the United Kingdom are sent to camps, while their file is processed. .
Under the £120m (€142m) scheme, people deemed to have entered the UK illegally will be sent to the East African country where they are encouraged to apply the right to settle there.
This project has aroused outraged reactions from human rights associations and even some Conservative MPs. Indeed, this project contradicts the Geneva Convention for refugees, yet signed by the United Kingdom.
Read also: The United Kingdom wants to send its asylum seekers to Rwanda to discourage illegal immigrants
Despite this, Boris Johnson stuck to his guns, saying the top 50 “ illegal immigrants in this country have already been informed that they will be sent to Rwanda within two weeks.