Boris Johnson’s government proposes to send people 6,500km away, regardless of where they came from. If this goes ahead it will be a perilous new step for the world’s refugee system
one of the first countries to ratify the Refugee Convention of 1951, which spelled out countries’ obligations to protect fugitives from persecution who had arrived in their territories and not return them to danger. The convention was “an excellent instrument”, said Selwyn Lloyd, a Conservative minister in the Foreign Office. No country in Europe was doing as much to help refugees, boasted another minister.
If the Conservatives pull this off, it will be a perilous new step for the world’s refugee system. Britain is not trying to process asylum claimants offshore, as Australia did when it interned boat people in Nauru and Papua New Guinea. Nor is it trying to push asylum-seekers back to the country they arrived from, as America has done since covid-19 hit and as the European Union has done with Syrians who cross from Turkey to Greece.
The much greater danger is that the plan works. If Britain manages to send thousands of asylum-seekers to Africa, others are likely to get the message and not try to come to Britain at all. Few refugees would find Rwanda congenial. Boris Johnson, Britain’s prime minister, calls it “that dynamic country” and “one of the safest...in the world”; his home secretary, Priti Patel, says it has “many, many interests in common” with Britain. Such praise is overblown.
Ireland Latest News, Ireland Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Rwanda asylum scheme: Former PM Theresa May criticises plan to send asylum seekers to RwandaAt the weekend, the Archbishop of Canterbury said the government's plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda is 'opposite the nature of God'.
Read more »
Theresa May questions legality and ethics of plan to send migrants to RwandaHome Secretary Priti Patel faced a barrage of criticism in the Commons on the plans to send some asylum seekers 4,000 miles to East Africa.
Read more »
Boris Johnson hits back at Archbishop of Canterbury for 'misconstruing' Rwanda policyBORIS JOHNSON has hit back at the Archbishop of Canterbury for 'misconstruing' the Government's policy to send migrants crossing the English Channel to Rwanda.
Read more »
Boris Johnson hits back at Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby for criticising Rwanda asylum planBoris Johnson has hit back at the Archbishop of Canterbury over his criticism of sending illegal migrants to Rwanda, claiming the top clergy should be condemning Vladimir Putin instead
Read more »
Boris Johnson accuses Justin Welby of ‘misconstruing’ Rwanda policySources said the Prime Minister made the attack in a speech to Tory MPs after apologising over his coronavirus fine.
Read more »