The Labour Government is about to cancel the Rwanda plan just as it was finally ready to begin, to the joy of migrants waiting to cross the Channel.
In a tent camp in the woods near Dunkirk last night, migrants said it was ‘amazing news’ that the new UK Government will stop the programme.
Loni, 17, from South Sudan, said: ‘I’ve been here for seven months with my sister and her children, and we’ve always worried we could get sent to Rwanda. It’s amazing news to hear that won’t be happening anymore. I’m happy now knowing they will not send us back near home.
Iraqi electrician Faris Mustafa, 52, said: ‘I had been worried about being sent to Rwanda, so I was thinking of returning to Poland, where I arrived in Europe, or to Turkey.’
Rough conditions in the Channel have spared Sir Keir Starmer the embarrassment of seeing illegal migrants arriving during his first days in power. Any backlog of migrants may try to cross early next week, raising serious questions about Labour’s unclear border policies.
The new Prime Minister yesterday promised ‘secure borders’ during his Downing Street speech, but during the election campaign, he vowed he would immediately cancel the Rwanda scheme.
The new Government’s weak plan to tackle small boats is likely to take months to set up, and Labour has not explained in detail how its proposals will stop the flow of migrants.
An inaugural Rwanda flight would have departed in the next few days if the Conservatives had won in Thursday’s poll.
Ironically, the latest challenge against the legality of the Rwanda scheme was rejected by the courts yesterday morning. The High Court dismissed a challenge by the FDA trade union, representing senior civil servants, which argued that part of the Rwanda scheme could have forced its members to breach the Civil Service Code. This comes amid record arrivals across the Channel, with 13,500 in the first half of this year.
Labour’s vow to scrap the Rwanda deal will waste three years of intensive work since the policy began to be drawn up in 2021, including multiple Acts of Parliament.
It also risks throwing away £290 million of taxpayers’ money already spent on the scheme, although in January, Rwandan president Paul Kagame raised the possibility of a refund if no migrants were sent to his country.
Under the terms of the UK-Rwanda agreement, the whole project can be canceled simply by one of the governments giving three months’ notice in writing. Labour has pledged to set up a Border Security Command bringing together different parts of the Home Office – plus the security services, including MI5 – to combat people-trafficking gangs.
Tories pointed out that the new unit would be almost identical to what is already in place.
Additionally, Labour has said it will seek new agreements with other countries – including France – to speed up the removal of illegal migrants.
So far, France has flatly refused to consider a returns agreement, and it is likely to be even harder to secure a deal if the far-Right National Rally party maintains its lead in tomorrow’s final round of the French national elections.
