London wants to deport 5,700 people to Rwanda this year

Great Britain wants to deport about 5,700 people to Rwanda this year. The East African country has agreed “in principle” to accept those people who have immigrated illegally to Great Britain, the Home Office said today.

Health Minister Victoria Atkins told Sky News that this group of people is expected to be “removed” by the end of the year. According to the Ministry of Interior, 2,143 of the 5,700 migrants could be detained before they leave. Law enforcement will track down the rest.

Last week, after a long dispute, the British Parliament approved the plan to deport migrants to Rwanda. In the future, it should be possible for people who entered the country illegally to be deported to Rwanda regardless of their origin and without having their asylum claim examined, and the East African country has been designated as a safe third country.

The Home Office said migrants who arrived in the UK between January 2022 and June 2023 should expect their asylum claims to be deemed inadmissible and deported to Rwanda. According to official statistics, more than 57,000 people crossed the English Channel to Britain during this period.

The conflict with Ireland intensifies

Meanwhile, the immigration dispute between EU member Ireland and Great Britain is escalating. Irish Justice Minister Helen McEntee announced that she would send up to 100 police officers to the open border with the British province of Northern Ireland.

They are supposed to identify asylum seekers who can apply for residence status in the neighboring country and enter the Republic of Ireland instead, and deport those who do not have the necessary documents back to the UK. This was reported by the Irish newspaper The Independent.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had previously announced that Great Britain would not accept repatriation from Ireland unless the European Union in turn took back illegal immigrants from the United Kingdom. Irish Foreign Minister Michael Martin had previously said that the number of asylum seekers entering the country without identification papers had increased significantly recently. This is also due to British policy towards Rwanda.