Nothing will stop you, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in a statement released this Tuesday (23), a day after winning the United Kingdom Parliament with the approval of the law determining the sending of asylum seekers to Rwanda in Africa. From applying the new law.
“The approval of this historic law is not only a step forward, but a fundamental change in the global migration equation,” said the politician, for whom the text “must prevent vulnerable migrants from making dangerous crossings” and “break the business model of criminal gangs that exploit them”. “I believe nothing will stop us from doing this and saving lives.”
The defensiveness is due to the law's resonance among civil society organizations, which consider the approach futile and cruel. For example, this Tuesday, the UN
“The new law represents another step away from the UK's long tradition of providing asylum to those in need,” United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi said in a statement. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Dürk said the law “seriously undermines the rule of law in the United Kingdom and sets a dangerous global precedent.”
Sunak, the leader of the Conservative Party, has established an anti-immigration agenda popular with his party's supporters as a priority for his administration. In recent years, this topic has attracted more attention in Europe, where the number of irregular entries has increased.
In 2023, there were about 380 thousand crossings in illegal conditions in the EU, according to the Frontex agency, which is a 17% increase compared to 2022 and the highest number since 2016, when the number was more than 500 thousand. to the conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan.
One of the gateways to the UK is the English Channel, which separates the country from France and through which 29,437 migrants reached UK shores – a 12% drop on the previous year, according to the British Home Office. At last, the number stood at 45,774.
There, at least five migrants died early Tuesday, hours after the law was approved, while trying to cross.
Firefighters said the bodies found on a beach in Wimereux, France were that of a four-year-old girl, three men aged between 25 and 40 and a woman in her 30s. The tragedy happened around 5am local time when a small boat with more than 110 people left the beach, the local town hall said.
“After sinking on the sandbank, the ship returned to the sea,” the local government said. “There appears to have been a commotion on the overcrowded boat, resulting in several casualties.”
British Home Secretary James wisely said the government was doing everything it could to prevent dangerous crossings in small boats. “These tragedies must stop,” he said on the X social network.
At least 15 people have died trying to cross the English Channel since the start of the year, AFP news agency reports. In 2023, 12 migrants died crossing. The last incident occurred on March 3, when a seven-year-old girl drowned while trying to cross the canal with 15 other migrants in a small boat.
Once the bill becomes law — expected this week — the government will begin detaining asylum seekers, prompting more legal challenges from NGOs and activists. The groups cite the East African country's poor human rights record and the risk of asylum seekers being sent back to countries where they face torture and persecution.
Steve Smith, head of Care4Calais, said he would work tirelessly to stop any flight and sought to reassure migrants. “Care4Calais not only stands in solidarity with them, but is absolutely committed to fighting for their safety in the UK,” he said in a statement.
The plan was initially laid out by Boris Johnson, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom between 2019 and 2022. However, at the end of 2022, the first deportation flight was blocked by a ban from the European Court of Human Rights.
The British Supreme Court had ruled last November that the move was illegal. To deal with the issues pointed out by the court, the United Kingdom and Rwanda decided to sign a new agreement in early December. The first reading of the reformed text – won this Wednesday – was then approved on 12 December.
The legislation is already costing the British public coffers £240 million (R$1.54 billion) to be sent to Rwanda by the end of 2023 so that the country can provide accommodation services to asylum seekers in the United Kingdom. There are additional costs over the five years of the contract, depending on the number of ambassadors, which could exceed £500 million.
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