Telegraph: Starmer cancels plan to repatriate refugees to Rwanda in first decision
The Telegraph reported on Friday, citing Labor party sources, that newly elected British Prime Minister Keir Starmer had halted a deportation plan to send migrants who arrived in United Kingdom illegally to Rwanda on his first day at work.
Labor officials told The Telegraph that the Conservative Party’s scheme to deport migrants arriving in United Kingdom illegally to Rwanda was effectively dead after the party vowed to scrap it if the party won the election.
The repeal of the law hasn’t yet been officially announced, and no official body has commented on the Telegraph report.
However, migration remains a key issue for the new prime minister and his government, with expectations that he will be pressured to find a way to prevent tens of thousands of people from reaching across the border.
Britain’s new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said one of the government’s first duties was to maintain secure borders and that she would priorities the creation of a new border security command in its early meetings with officials.
The Rwanda plan was first announced under Boris Johnson, followed by Liz Truss, followed by former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
No refugees were deported under the agreement to Rwanda, except for two asylum-seekers whose applications were rejected and who went to Rwanda voluntarily under a separate agreement that gave them £3,000 to go, according to the Telegraph.
According to the Rwanda plan, anyone who arrived on British soil by sea, land or air without an entry permit is considered to have arrived illegally and can therefore be deported to Rwanda.
