London, Europe Brief News – UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson made new controversial statements about asylum seekers in the country.
Some asylum seekers who cross the Channel to the UK will be given a one-way ticket to Rwanda, Boris Johnson said.
The trial will involve mostly single men arriving at boats or lorries.
He added that the £120m scheme would “save countless lives” from human trafficking.
Refugee organisations have criticised the plan as cruel, questioned its cost and impact, and raised concerns about Rwanda’s human rights record.
In a speech in Kent, Mr Johnson argued action was needed to stop “vile people smugglers” turning the ocean into a “watery graveyard”, adding the “humane and compassionate” plan was designed to break their business model.
He said he wanted to make clear to people arriving on the Kent coast they were better off taking legal routes and that the new plan would “over time prove a very considerable deterrent”.
Last year, 28,526 people are known to have crossed in small boats, up from 8,404 in 2020.
Around 600 people made the crossing on Wednesday, and Mr Johnson said the figure could reach 1,000 a day within weeks.
Recent research by Ipsos Mori suggested 60% of the public were dissatisfied with the government’s migration policy – more than half of which cited Channel crossings.
