Rwanda asylum scheme: Lewes MP Maria Caulfield welcomes Government's new migration and economic development

Lewes MP Maria Caulfield has welcomed the Conservative Government’s new migration and economic development partnership announced today.
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Lewes MP Maria Caulfield has welcomed the Conservative Government’s new migration and economic development partnership announced today.

The Home Secretary Priti Patel has signed a world-first partnership with Rwanda, which will see asylum seekers who come to the UK illegal via dangerous Channel crossings relocated to Rwanda.

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Home Secretary Priti Patel said: “The global migration crisis and how we tackle illegal migration requires new world-leading solutions. There are an estimated 80 million people displaced in the world and the global approach to asylum and migration is broken.

The MP for Lewes supports the The Nationality and Borders Bill, claiming  it will 'fix the broken asylum system'.The MP for Lewes supports the The Nationality and Borders Bill, claiming  it will 'fix the broken asylum system'.
The MP for Lewes supports the The Nationality and Borders Bill, claiming it will 'fix the broken asylum system'.

"Existing approaches have failed and there is no single solution to tackle these problems. Change is needed because people are dying attempting to come to the UK illegally.

"Today I have signed a world leading migration partnership with Rwanda which can see those arriving illegally into the UK by dangerous methods relocated to Rwanda to have their claims for asylum considered and, if recognised as refugees, to build their lives there – helping break the people smugglers’ business model and prevent loss of life."

There has been wide-spread criticism for this scheme on legal, moral and logistical grounds. More than 160 charities and campaign groups have urged ministers to scrap the policy - which has also drawn criticism from opposition parties and some Conservatives.

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However, the MP for Lewes supports the The Nationality and Borders Bill, claiming it will 'fix the broken asylum system'.

Maria Caulfield MP said “This Conservative Government has done more than any other UK Government to resettle vulnerable people – but only by controlling illegal migration can we protect our capacity to expand that generosity and properly support people to rebuild their lives.

“That is why I welcome the UK’s new migration and economic development partnership with Rwanda – a fast growing economy that is recognised globally for its record on welcoming and integrating migrants, while we are providing generous protection to those directly fleeing the worst of humanity, by settling thousands of people every year through safe and legal routes.

“It is this Conservative Government that is delivering on the several votes of the British people to control our borders – not to close them.”

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The Government believes the new £120m scheme will provide funding to support operations, accommodation and integration, similar to the costs incurred in the UK – helping Rwanda to process asylum claims.

The number of people who can be relocated is unlimited and the the government said flights could begin within weeks.

Priti Patel continued: "I am delivering the first comprehensive overhaul of the asylum system in decades. At the heart of this approach is fairness so that access to the UK asylum system based on need, not ability to pay people smugglers.

"The demands on the current system, the cost to the taxpayer, and the flagrant abuses are increasing, and the British public have rightly had enough.

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"That’s why I am overhauling this broken system, we will continue to support those directly fleeing oppression, persecution and tyranny through safe and legal routes, while deterring illegal entry to the UK and making it easier to remove those from the UK who have no right to be here.”

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