Latest news with #RwandaPlan
Telegraph
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Starmer has just revealed he has absolutely no idea how to to stop the boats
Britain is on the cusp of a new immigration deal with France aimed at stopping the small boat crossings. So far, over 18,000 small boat migrants have crossed the English Channel this year, putting us on course for record numbers. The Government's plans to 'smash the gangs', and novelties like a new Border Security Commander, have clearly failed. What's more, the top countries for asylum seekers to Britain are Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. These are all countries where human rights law means they will likely never be sent home. Plans to stop the use of asylum hotels have been put off until 2029, and on current trends, there is no reason to think it wouldn't be put off again. That means they will keep costing billions every year. What the Government needs is a deterrent. Having dumped the Rwanda Plan in their first week in office, they lost the best effort at one so far. As they were so vociferous in attacking it, it seems unlikely they will try to resurrect it. Instead, they are supposedly planning a new deal with France. Early reports suggested a 'one in, one out' rule. That would mean that almost every small boat migrant would be sent back to France within weeks of arrival. In return, Britain would agree to take one asylum seeker from France with family links to Britain for every migrant sent back. The hope is that this would put potential small boat migrants off trying to come. Why bother spending thousands of pounds if you are guaranteed to be returned to France? Many of those coming on small boats do have family here already, though, so it is unclear how effective it would be. The Government seems to be aware that there are problems with the idea. They have had presentations from senior figures at the European Stability Initiative to discuss an alternative plan. This would involve a coalition of European countries, but not the European Union, who would agree to take back all small boat migrants from Britain. In return, Britain would agree to take a certain number of asylum seekers from them, suggested at a level of 20,000 for four years. The plan is that this would demonstrate that illegal crossings won't work but that there are safe and legal routes for refugees, with Britain setting up a visa application process in EU countries. Britain would still be taking asylum seekers but in significantly lower numbers. The European states, meanwhile, could test a plan they could then apply with other countries, to end the illegal immigration issues they face in the Mediterranean. This is very similar to the 2016 EU-Turkey deal which the European Stability Initiative helped to broker. That did reduce the numbers of asylum seekers coming through Turkey. However, the flows of illegal immigrants simply shifted to other routes, with overall levels still higher than they were before the 2015 refugee crisis. Many will also point out that this doesn't actually fix our issues with human rights laws; it just makes them slightly less worse. Taking in 80,000 asylum seekers would still be a large and costly policy, costing us all billions and directly contrary to what voters want. No wonder that Home Office sources have stressed that this is still a 'work in progress'.
The Sun
19-06-2025
- Politics
- The Sun
Mastermind of Australia's successful small boats crackdown urges Sir Keir Starmer to resurrect Rwanda plan
A MASTERMIND of Australia's successful small boats crackdown has urged Sir Keir Starmer to resurrect the Rwanda plan. Alexander Downer said it was a tragedy Labour axed the scheme and the PM should 'eat political humble pie'. 3 3 The Aussies cut illegal crossings from a record high of 20,000 in 2014 to nearly zero by sending migrants to the island of Nauru. Ex-foreign minister Mr Downer said: 'I regard it as a tragedy that the Rwanda plan became a party political issue. "The Tories did lots of bad things but that wasn't one. 'It would have worked assuming the legal issues could be properly addressed — and they were being. "So the easiest thing for them to do would be to eat a bit of political humble pie and reinstitute the Rwanda scheme.' But small boat arrivals are about 40 per cent higher on Labour's watch, with more than 40,000 coming here since the election. Sir Keir has said he is open to using offshore processing if there is evidence it works. 3
The Independent
08-06-2025
- Business
- The Independent
Why are we slashing foreign aid when it can help stop the boats?
When I was an MP in Kent, I saw the problems on our coastline – and have always supported tough measures to cut the number of people arriving in this country without permission. Later, as immigration minister, I took measures to stop people hiding in the backs of lorries, and more recently, I voted and spoke in favour of the Rwanda plan, set out by the former Conservative government. There is no single magic bullet to stop boats crossing the English Channel. But one key part of an effective strategy is to reduce the incentives for people to climb into those boats in the first place – to offer a stick as well as a carrot. As powerful new research from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy shows, well-targeted aid provides that incentive for someone to stay in their home country and abandon dreams of fleeing to Europe. It tackles the root causes of the problem, with benefits to us and would-be asylum seekers. We know that most people in these small boats come from countries in conflict, or where there have been humanitarian emergencies – from Afghanistan, Sudan, Syria, Eritrea – so delivering improvements where living conditions are desperate will mean fewer people starting the journey. I'm not talking about spending taxpayers' money to salve our consciences – my argument is that this would be spending our money wisely, in the interests of the British people. The Kiel research shows that, in Sub-Saharan Africa, a marked improvement in health and education services resulted in a 27 per cent fall in people saying they planned to move abroad over the next 12 months – the key ingredient in reducing that push factor. In the same way, if aid is spent wisely in conflict-stricken countries, it is a very effective tool in reducing the danger of fresh outbreaks of violence and, therefore, migration. In the future, as the climate crisis bites, helping agricultural communities adapt by providing better irrigation or more resistant crops will become an increasingly effective use of aid funds. As Tobias Heidland, professor of economics at Kiel University and the study's co-author, puts it: 'When aid improves basic services like healthcare and education – or helps stabilise post-conflict regions – people are less likely to leave.' The research underlines that most people only decide to migrate as a last resort. It is a choice they feel forced to make because they lack opportunity, physical security, or basic services such as healthcare and education. Targeted aid investments can improve these conditions. It also shows information campaigns highlighting the dangers of a journey, such as attempting to cross to Europe and on to the UK, can deliver a 10-20 per cent fall in the share of people ready to migrate – but only once they believe their own situation is no longer hopeless. This all means that relying on tough border controls alone to curb the type of migration we see almost every day in the English Channel will only take us so far. Success requires steps to stop journeys at their start, as well as at their end. Moreover, spending aid in this way is not only the clever thing to do, it can also be popular. Polling from More in Common found that three in five Britons and two-thirds of Reform voters support aid that reduces the numbers of people from war-torn countries seeking asylum in the UK. I regret the short-sighted decision to raid the UK's development budget for the funds that are badly needed to bolster our defence in an increasingly dangerous world, but I recognise that decision has been taken and is unlikely to be reversed. What matters now is to make the case for the survival of essential programmes beyond the current cost-cutting, for those that benefit us all. And there is no more obvious example of that than aid that tackles the small boats' crisis at source.
Epoch Times
04-06-2025
- Business
- Epoch Times
Daily Boat Immigrant Arrivals Top 1,000 for 1st Time This Year
More than 1,100 illegal immigrants have arrived by crossing the English Channel, the highest number recorded in a single day this year. Provisional Home Office figures show 1,195 people arrived on Britain's shores in 19 small boats on Saturday, the highest total so far in 2025 and the first time this year the number exceeded 1,000 in one day. The previous highest figure was 825, recorded on May 21. So far in 2025, 14,812 people have illegally entered the UK by crossing the Channel in small boats. According to analysis of the data by The Epoch Times, this is 42 percent higher than this time last year, when a total of 10,448 had arrived. It is also nearly double the number of arrivals by May 31, 2023, when 7,610 had landed. Saturday's figures remain below the daily record of 1,305 set on Sept. 3, 2022, which was a year that saw the highest number boat landings overall. In total, of 45,755 people had arrived in 2022, with similarly high daily figures recorded on Oct. 9 (1,241) and Nov. 12 (1,214). Landings so far this year are also higher than the number who had arrived by May 31, 2022 (9,607), which suggests 2025 could be another record year, unless government efforts to stop the boats and tackle the smuggling gangs are successful. A total of 165,590 people have crossed the English Channel to enter the UK since record-keeping for this type of illegal immigration began in 2018. Undermining Border Security A Home Office spokesperson said the government wants to end dangerous small boat crossings, 'which threaten lives and undermine our border security.' Related Stories 5/22/2025 5/19/2025 'Through international intelligence sharing under our Border Security Command, enhanced enforcement operations in Northern France and tougher legislation in the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill, we are strengthening international partnerships and boosting our ability to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal gangs whilst strengthening the security of our borders,' the spokesperson said. Since coming to power in July 2024, the Labour government has taken a different approach to tackling illegal immigration compared with its Conservative predecessors. Notably, it scrapped the Rwanda Plan, which aimed to send asylum seekers who arrived illegally to safe third countries like Rwanda, a policy the previous administration argued would deter people from making the cross-Channel journey. The Conservatives had also Similarly, the Labour government continues to work with international and European partners to ' UK Working With France The Labour government has since founded the cross-agency Border Security Command, which will take a Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer speaks during a visit to BAE Systems in Govan, Glasgow, on June 2, 2025. Andy Buchanan/PA Wire Giving a major defence speech in Glasgow, Scotland, on Monday, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said that 'nobody should be making that journey across the Channel, and it's our duty to make sure that we ensure that they don't.' Starmer said his government was working closely with French counterparts on taking further action in northern France, which is where most of the boats depart from. Asked about the Rwanda Plan, the prime minister said, 'The reason we stood down the Rwanda scheme was because it cost a fortune, and only a handful of people went on a voluntary basis to Rwanda, and it didn't deter anybody.' 'I'm not up for gimmicks. I'm up for the hard work of working with partners, enhancing the powers that law enforcement have in my determination to take down the gangs that are running this vile trade,' he added. Home Office figures revealed in December that the Rwanda Plan had However, the UK is in talks with several Balkan nations about setting up ' Shadow home secretary Chris Philp had called the proposals a 'weak imitation' of the Rwanda policy.
Telegraph
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
The many times Starmer criticised Rwanda scheme – before announcing own deportation plan
Sir Keir Starmer has announced the UK will begin talks with other countries to host 'return hubs' for failed asylum seekers. During his time as both leader of the opposition and Prime Minister, however, Sir Keir has been a staunch critic of the Tories' plan to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda. The Prime Minister cancelled Rishi Sunak's flagship immigration policy on his first day in Downing Street, which is likely to prompt accusations of hypocrisy now that he is also looking to send asylum seekers to third countries. Here, The Telegraph takes a look at Sir Keir's criticisms of the Rwanda plan. April 14, 2022 In response to Boris Johnson's announcement of the Rwanda plan, Sir Keir said it was 'unworkable', 'extortionate' and an attempt to distract voters from Mr Johnson's partygate fine for breaching Covid rules. November 15, 2023 Speaking in the Commons, Sir Keir called the Rwanda scheme 'the most ridiculous, pathetic spectacle of all', adding: 'Does he want to apologise to the country for wasting £140 million of cash?' December 12, 2023 Sir Keir used a speech to say that bearing down on illegal migration was 'about doing the basics better' and that 'stopping the boats means stopping the gimmicks'. May 10, 2024 Sir Keir told reporters: 'Every flight that goes off requires a massive cheque to be written to the Rwandan government. I want to use that money for setting up the law enforcement to break the gangs in the first place… No planes, no scheme, I'm not going to flog a dead horse.' May 23, 2024 During the first full week of the general election campaign, Sir Keir said: 'I don't think he's ever believed that plan is going to work, and so he has called an election early enough to have it not tested before the election.' June 27, 2024 Sir Keir told Mr Sunak during the final general election debate: 'Why are record numbers still coming under your watch, Prime Minister? How on earth can you say it's working?' He added: 'I noticed you called the election, by the way, before any flights could actually get off, but it could be tested. Interesting timing. But if this was such a deterrent, why is it obviously not working?' July 5, 2024 The day after Labour won the general election, sources in Sir Keir's Government told The Telegraph: 'If Rishi Sunak thought Rwanda would work, he wouldn't have called an election. It was a con. By calling an election, Sunak was acknowledging that fact.' July 6, 2024 Sir Keir said at a press conference: 'Look at the numbers that have come over in the first six and a bit months of this year, they are record numbers, that is the problem that we are inheriting. It's had the complete opposite effect and I'm not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don't act as a deterrent.' September 4, 2024 Sir Keir told the Commons: 'Unlike the Conservative party, we will not waste money on gimmicks. That is why, within days, we ended the Rwanda scheme and announced the launch of the border security force, and we have been preparing legislation to introduce counter-terrorism powers to tackle gangs.' March 12, 2025 At Prime Minister's Questions, he said: 'The Rwanda scheme cost £700 million of taxpayers' money to remove four volunteers. What a contrast: we have got the flights off and removed 19,000 people who should not be here.'
