Boris Johnson wants first Rwanda migrant flights within weeks

Britain plans to start removing asylum-seekers to Rwanda in an attempt – based on Australia’s system – to tackle the global migration crisis.

Britain plans to start removing asylum-seekers to Rwanda in about six weeks in an unprecedented attempt to tackle the global migration crisis.

The Times understands that Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants the first flight taking Channel migrants to the central African state to leave late next month. The government wants tens of thousands of people moved within the next few years.

The British plans are modelled on Australia’s offshore processing of asylum-seekers in detention centres on Nauru and Manus ­islands.

Each migrant sent to Rwanda is expected to cost British taxpayers between £20,000 ($35,300) and £30,000.

This will cover ­accommodation before departure, a seat on a chartered plane and their first three months of accommodation in Rwanda.

Home Secretary Priti Patel insisted that the expense of sending migrants to Rwanda would be a “drop in the ocean” compared with the present £1.5bn-a-year cost of the asylum system, which she described as “unfair on hard-pressed taxpayers”.

Britain will also provide the Rwandan government a set amount per refugee, although the Home Office refused to disclose how much.

In addition, the government will donate 120m a year to help to support and integrate asylum-seekers and to resettle “a portion” of Rwanda’s most vulnerable refugees.

Ms Patel said she was working “assiduously” to persuade other countries to sign a similar deal – part of what she hopes will be a changed approach to immigration worldwide.

She warned that the number of migrants making the perilous Channel crossing was likely to soar, with internal forecasts suggesting a total above 65,000 – more than double last year.

Britain's Home Secretary, Priti Patel.

“The projections for this summer are incredibly high,” Ms Patel said. “Currently we face a bill as a taxpayer of £1.5bn and that will just go up if we do nothing.”

Humanitarian groups condemned the plan late on Thursday as “cruel and nasty”. Critics also warned that it could allow Rwanda to “have the UK over a barrel when it comes to negotiating the price”.

Mr Johnson confirmed that Britain would invest £50m to put the Royal Navy and army in charge of tackling the small-boat crisis.

In a speech in Kent, Mr Johnson insisted that although Britain had a proud record of accepting asylum-seekers from countries such as Afghanistan and Ukraine, the “quid pro quo for this generosity” was that Britain could not sustain a “parallel illegal system” of migration across the Channel.

“Those who try to jump the queue or abuse our system … will be swiftly and humanely removed to a safe third country,” he said.

Ms Patel signed a memorandum of understanding on Thursday with Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta after eight months of negotiation.

Speaking alongside Mr Biruta, Ms Patel said: “We as two ministers stand here absolutely committed to changing some of the norms around the broken global migration system because for too long other countries and, by the way, naysayers, just sit on their hands and have been watching people die.”

All adults who cross the Channel in small boats will be eligible for removal to Rwanda, which the British government hopes will deter crossings. More than 5000 migrants have arrived this year, with hundreds crossing on Thursday after a daily record of more than 600 on Wednesday.

Most of those sent to Rwanda will be men, however, given that they made up nine in 10 of all crossings last year. Migrants will be given five days’ notice of their removal to Rwanda and will be detained by Immigration Enforcement. After arrival in Rwanda they will be ­offered the chance to claim asylum there and given free accommodation for up to three months while their application is processed. They will be placed in hostel-style ­accommodation. They will be served three meals a day at the ­expense of British taxpayers.

Mr Johnson said the partnership with Rwanda would be “fully compliant with our international legal obligations” but accepted that it would be challenged. He said “a formidable army of politically motivated lawyers” had “made it their business to thwart removals”, adding that he was “prepared to explore any and all further legal reforms”.

British Red Cross executive ­director Zoe Abrams said she was “profoundly concerned” about the plans to “send traumatised people halfway round the world to Rwanda”. Refugee Council chief executive Enver Solomon urged ministers to “immediately rethink” the “cruel and nasty” plans, warning that they could cost up to £1.4bn a year.

The Times