Germany wants to use British-funded migrant centres in Rwanda

Posted on by Vaseline

Germany is keen to take advantage of the hundreds of millions the British spent on the now-abolished Rwandan migrant programme to send its own illegal immigrants to the East African country.

One of his first acts after taking office in July was British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer’s announcement that plans to send illegal boat migrants to asylum centres in Rwanda rather than allowing them to remain in Britain would be ended.

Although previous Conservative governments failed to get the plan off the ground after it became bogged down in legal proceedings initiated by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) after it sensationally blocked a migrant deportation flight in the summer of 2022, the British taxpayer had already sent £318 million to Kigali to build asylum centres and develop the country’s economy.

This week, German Migration Commissioner Joachim Stamp suggested that Berlin could use the British investment to send its own illegal immigrants to Rwanda, as Germany seeks to deport more people following recent Islamist terror attacks in Solingen and Mannheim and growing public anger over the country’s open borders.

Stamp suggested the government use “the capabilities that are available there and that were originally prepared for this deal with the British,” broadcaster NTV reported.

The neoliberal Free Democrat politician said the plan could be used to discourage the use of “hybrid warfare” by Russia and Belarus to send migrants to the EU’s eastern border to destabilise the bloc. Stamp said this could amount to removing around 10,000 migrants to Rwanda a year.

“This would mean that Putin and Lukashenko’s propaganda would no longer catch Iraqis, Syrians and Afghans saying: Come here to Minsk or to Moscow and we will take you to Europe,” he said.

“If we could find a third country in this place, that would be great. We don’t have anyone who has come forward at the moment, except Rwanda.”

Although the other parties in Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s “traffic light” government, namely the Social Democrats and the Greens, have not yet agreed to this policy, it would likely be a major political blow to the new left-wing Starmer government in London if Germany were to benefit from the hundreds of millions spent by the British taxpayer.

Former Conservative Home Secretary Suella Braverman said The Telegraph: “Germany’s decision to adopt the Conservatives’ Rwanda plan is further evidence of support within the EU for the need for meaningful deterrence.

“Starmer’s abandonment of the plan makes the UK look like a soft touch for illegal migrants, sets us apart from other EU countries struggling to deal with the migration crisis, and wastes the vital work that went into setting up and running the plan. A huge mistake that Starmer will come to regret.”

Conservative leadership candidate Robert Jenrick added: “Labour’s decision to scrap the Rwanda plan rather than strengthen it looks more foolish by the day. Leaders across Europe can see that you need a deterrent to stop illegal migration. Sir Keir has squandered such a much-valued partnership and is now utterly powerless to stop the boats.”

The Labour government has argued that ending the Rwanda programme would allow for investment in tackling criminal people-smuggling gangs operating on both sides of the Channel, in particular the creation of a new taskforce for the Border Security Command.

However, since Labour came to power in July, more than 7,000 illegal immigrants have crossed the Channel, taking the total for the year to more than 21,000, compared with 29,437 for the whole of last year.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on X: or email: [email protected]

Avatar for Vaseline
Vaseline https://newspowergreen.biz.id

You May Also Like

More From Author