BRITAIN FM IN RWANDA TO REVIVE ASYLUM DEAL

Britain has been dogged in its attempts to expel refugees. On 15 November, the UK Supreme Court ruled unlawful a previous agreement to send asylum seekers to Rwanda. This week, the government of Prime Minister Rishi Sunak returned with a draft for a new bill, saying it should lay to rest the court’s concern about Rwanda’s poor human rights record.

NGOs, such as Asylum Aid and Human Rights Watch, have called the plan ‘cruel and ineffective.’ The United Kingdom is considered better placed to handle an influx of asylum seekers, as it is exponentially wealthier, with its $3 trillion Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Its small East African counterpart generates $11 billion in GDP. The UK has already paid 140 million pounds to Rwanda, considered the first installment to ensure the plan’s execution.

Moreover, Rwanda is the second most densely populated country in mainland Africa, according to United Nations population division forecasts available on the Worldometer website. It has a population density of 571 per square kilometres. Meanwhile, the UK, has 276 people per square kilometres. So, if the UK is full, as right-wing politicians claim, how should we describe Rwanda?

Meanwhile, key proponents of the deal, including Sunak and other former government officials, are themselves beneficiaries of the UK’s immigration policy. Talk about gatekeeping.

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