The British government has deported the first rejected asylum seeker to Rwanda under a voluntary program. The unnamed man was flown out of the country on Monday. The voluntary program differs from the controversial forced deportation plan that Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pushed through last week after a long dispute in parliament.
This option, which has been available since March, provides an entrance fee of up to 3,000 pounds (about 3,500 euros) to travel to Rwanda. The British government wants to reduce the number of people who have come to the country in recent years. “This deal will allow people without immigration status in Britain to be resettled in a safe third country where they will be helped to rebuild their lives,” a government spokesperson said.
The opposition sees a ‘PR campaign’ before the local elections
The move is not part of the British government’s much-criticized plan to deport thousands of illegally arrived asylum seekers to Rwanda, regardless of their origin. The daily newspaper ‘Sun’ nevertheless spoke of a ‘historic moment’ which shows that it is possible to deport asylum seekers to a third country. In contrast, the opposition Labor party criticized it as a PR campaign during the election campaign.
“The Tories are so desperate to send a flight to Rwanda ahead of the local elections that they have now paid someone to fly there,” said Labor home affairs spokeswoman Yvette Cooper. Sunak’s Conservative Party faces a bitter defeat in local elections in England on Thursday.
Source: Krone
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