British Prime Minister Keir Starmer reviews his first day of work, announcing the cancellation of the “Rwanda Plan”, the mega-project that was a legacy of the previous government.
Last weekend, Keir Starmer, the Prime Minister of England, raised the red flag for England. Results from the first day you came to run the country, in addition to announcing the appointment of a new government, you also announced the cancellation of a huge project that was a legacy of the previous government: a program to deport illegal immigrants to Rwanda. This is a project that has always attracted heavy criticism. While it is expected that the cancellation of this project will cause the government to lose tens of billions from the budget.
“Yesterday the change began. We are the changed Labour Party. Yesterday we started working to change the country. And with the election results coming in on Thursday, what is clearer than anyone can see is the mood of the people in the country. What is expected of us and what is the commitment to change?
“The Rwanda project is dead and buried before it can be implemented. It is not a deterrent policy. Just look at the number of refugees that have arrived in just over six months this year, which is the highest it has ever been. That was the problem that he took responsibility for afterwards. It is not a deterrent in the first place,” said Keir Starmer, the new British Prime Minister, during his first press conference as head of state after the end of the new cabinet session last Saturday.
The important point is to make sure that the new government will not continue its policy of deporting illegal immigrants and refugees to Rwanda. This has been a policy since the Conservative government. Since this project has been able to deal with less than 1% of immigrants, it is considered a repeal of the said law. Before it officially came into force, Starmer also pledged to seek more effective measures. Let's solve the problem of illegal immigration.
This is for the Rwandan refugee scheme. Officially called the UK-Rwanda Economic and Migration Partnership, it is a policy to deal with illegal immigrants. And try to apply for refugee status in the UK. It was proposed under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson before being abandoned.
The plan was revived under former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to reduce the number of refugees and stop them crossing the English Channel in small boats. Which are close to France and reached the UK Under the plan, some asylum seekers will be transferred to the East African country of Rwanda. While waiting for their asylum application to be considered, if their asylum application is approved they will be allowed to settle in Rwanda. But if it does not pass they can continue to seek refuge in a safe third country but there will be no one. You can apply to return to the UK.
Government data shows that from the start of 2024 until June 11, there were 11,247 migrants crossing the English Channel by boat, which is higher than the previous record set in four years.
The number of refugees who could be sent to Rwanda has increased since the British parliament approved the bill on April 22. It is estimated that 52,000 asylum seekers could be sent to Rwanda, however, it was later reported that the government has been unable to contact 3,557 refugees who were in the first group of 5,700 refugees to be sent to Rwanda but the government insists on denying rumours of missing refugees.
Meanwhile, there are reports that the government is planning to expand the Rwanda project. This will cover those whose asylum applications have been rejected or invalidated and cannot appeal. The government is also considering a trial of sending the first group of refugees who voluntarily relocate to Rwanda for 140,000 baht.
The Home Office has confirmed that refugees will not be deported to Rwanda until July 24, three weeks after the general election. This is what former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak promised before Election Day if the Conservatives were to come back into government, and all plans would go ahead.
Legal problems with the Rwandan refugee plan began under former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and the first group of refugees was due to be sent in June 2022, but it ran into legal problems. Even having to cancel
When it came to the former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the High Court of England ruled that the Rwandan refugee plan was against international law and UK law. Giving reasons why Rwanda is not a safe country to send asylum seekers to. But the government solved the game by pushing for a bill. Designating Rwanda as a safe country and signing a new treaty. This was to ensure that the Rwandan government would not push these refugees back to their homeland. Or to a potentially dangerous third country which eventually brought the Rwanda plan forward which was approved by parliament.
In addition to the legal obstacles, the Rwanda plan has also been heavily criticised by opposition parties and charities that care for refugees. The Labour Party announced its intentions before the election that the policy would be immediately scrapped. If elected as government
By Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform Party, a far-right party with anti-immigrant views I agree with the Prime Minister’s position. The New England Man immediately announced the cancellation of the Rwanda plan because I think it was not a successful plan in the first place. But he still expressed concern because they saw that the Labour Party itself and there is no serious plan to deal with migrants either.
“Well, he said he would. At least he kept his word. The Rwanda plan will never work. But what Keir Starmer has offered is to crack down on the gangs of people smuggling people into the country if I’m honest. The previous government did that for many years. It just doesn’t work at first, it can be a hassle. But we know from first-hand experience that once the situation is resolved they will be crossing the English Channel by the thousands and let’s face it, Keir Starmer has no plans for that.”
But Yvette Cooper, the new British Home Secretary, has confirmed that what the government will do is create a border command centre with powers similar to the counter-terrorism agency to deter migrant smuggling gangs.
Suella Braverman, the former British Home Secretary, also came out to give her opinion on the case in which the Rwanda plan was cancelled, insisting that the plan, if implemented properly, would be effective.
“We now see Prime Minister Keir Starmer forming his government. The Rwanda plan undoes years of hard work, the laws passed by the House and the multi-million pound budget invested in this project which, if implemented properly, will be effective but as you know there are many bigger problems ahead. This will be created by Keir Starmer and it is up to the Conservative Party to deal with it.
At this time, there is no confirmed information. Cancelling the Rwanda plan will cause the government to lose the budget. Which comes from wasting taxpayers' money How much? But according to estimates, by 2023, the British government has already invested more than 11,000 million baht in this project.
However, the UK Auditor General’s Office stated that the budget is fully budgeted at no less than 17,000 million baht over 5 years, which includes the full project operations budget, the budget to address legal issues and the budget to help develop Rwanda’s economy. This money cannot be recovered. But the Labour government believes that if we stop this wrong and wasteful project now and instead allocate the rest of the money to crack down on smuggling gangs.
In addition to the budget that has been lost, some analysts are concerned that the Rwanda plan will be cancelled midway through. The fate of the 52,000 migrants in this project will once again be hanging by a thread.
And we have to keep watching that. How will Labour deal with the migration crisis and will it be more effective than the Rwanda plan that they decided to cancel? Because the migration problem is a hot issue that the public cares about. Which will affect the government's popularity vote.
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