The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Migrant plan ‘pushing ahead’
The home secretary has said she is “pushing ahead” with plans to send migrants to Rwanda after more than 900 crossed the Channel in four days.
Priti Patel said work was taking place “right now” with the East African nation’s government as the two countries roll out the deportation policy.
It comes as 907 people arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel between Saturday and Tuesday.
According to the Home Office, Ms Patel discussed progress on the agreement in a meeting with Rwandan foreign minister Vincent Biruta, before the pair travel to Geneva today for meetings with the UN’s refugee agency the UNHCR and other bodies.
The home secretary said: “We are pushing ahead with delivering this worldleading plan which epitomises the kind of international approach that is required to tackle an international challenge like the migration crisis.”
Since the start of this year, 8,697 people have reached the UK after navigating busy shipping lanes from France in small boats, according to analysis of government data by the PA news agency.
This is now more than the number recorded throughout the whole of 2020 (8,466), official Home Office figures show.
Asked what she was doing now to curb Channel crossings while work on the Rwanda deal takes place, Ms Patel told the PA news agency: “These crossings are dangerous, put together by people smugglers who are just exploiting people that think that they can come to our country through these dangerous routes, and the point about the migration and economic development partnership that we have with Rwanda is actually about removing those who come to our country illegally and have no basis to be in our country.”
Meanwhile Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton Kevin Hollinrake urged Boris Johnson to stop plans for an asylum processing centre in his constituency.
It comes after North Yorkshire councillors said the government department intends to move 60 asylum seekers into a disused RAF base by the end of the month, despite opposition.
Hambleton District Council is seeking a judicial review of the plans and has asked ministers to pause the proposal “immediately”.