Rwanda flights ‘only way to slash perma-backlog of 55,000 asylum seekers’
FLIGHTS to Rwanda are the only way to slash the asylum backlog and protect Britain’s borders, ministers have been warned.
A scathing report by the Institute for Public Policy Research reveals up to 55,000 migrants are stuck in a “perma-backlog” because the Government cannot deport them or process their claims.
Former Immigration Minister Kevin Foster told the Daily Express: “This issue lies at the heart of the challenge in dealing with illegal migration, how you deal with those from nations where we cannot return them due to either the refusal of their Government to agree to enforced returns or the situation in the country.
“This is where Rwanda makes the difference... where we cannot return them to their home country.”
Senior backbench MP David Jones added:
“Nothing will deter potential illegal migrants more than the spectacle of flights taking off.”
The Express understands that Tory rebels are split on whether to attempt to toughen up the Rwanda Bill when it returns to the House of Commons during a Parliamentary process known as “ping pong”.
Only once it is passed will the Government’s flagship Illegal Migration Bill be enacted, giving ministers the powers to detain and remove Channel migrants.
Tory MPs insist sending migrants to Kigali “as soon as the legislation is enacted” will create the deterrence needed to prevent the backlog from growing further.
Meanwhile, the think tank’s report states that 33,000 migrants have arrived since the Illegal Migration Bill gained Royal Assent in July. Another 22,000 have fewer rights to appeal, after arriving when Priti Patel’s Nationality and Borders
Act was passed. Report author Marley Morris said: “Given most irregular arrivals applying for asylum come from unsafe countries and so cannot be returned home, and given the problems with removing people to Rwanda at scale, much of this cohort are likely to be trapped in a ‘perma-backlog’, unable to be processed or removed.”
But the Institute casts doubt on whether the Rwanda policy will work. The report states: “It is highly doubtful the small country of Rwanda will ever be able to accept tens of thousands of people.”
Planes
Illegal Immigration Minister Michael Tomlinson insists the Rwanda Bill will ensure success and flights taking off.
He told the Express: “It is the toughest bit of immigration legislation that has ever been tabled.
“My aim is to get it through as quickly as we can, because I want to get that on the statute book, get the treaty ratified and the planes off the ground.” He added: “You’ve seen yourself that the Prime Minister has said he will not let a foreign court get in the way of his Rwanda plan.”