Priti Patel Warns 65,000 Asylum-Seekers Set to Cross Channel, Defends PM's Rwanda Migrant Scheme

Earlier, Boris Johnson’s multi-million pound deal, unveiled on Thursday, to fly asylum seekers crossing the English Channel to Rwanda while their claims are processed was denounced as “immoral”, “impractical”, and fraught with “astronomic” costs.

UK Home Secretary Priti Patel has warned that up to 65,000 migrants could embark on the perilous journey across the English Channel in small boats this year, as she defended the government’s plan to deport unauthorised asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing, reported The Daily Mail.

About 600 migrants arrived on 13 April in what was the highest daily tally this year, with officials predicting these numbers could soar to reach 1,000 per day within the coming weeks.

The Home Secretary signed the historic deal, which presupposes an initial down-payment of £120m ($157 million) to the Rwandan government, plus Britain covering the cost of flights and accommodation, with Rwandan officials during a visit to the capital Kigali.

She rejected criticism that the mulled measure - part of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s "New Plan for Immigration" - will be too expensive.

Speaking to reporters in Rwanda, Patel insisted the costs were “a drop in the ocean” compared to the long-term UK taxpayer costs of not tackling the Channel migrant influx.

“The costs right now [of the asylum system] are going to go up and up and up because we can’t stop the boats today or tomorrow. The projections for the summer are incredibly high. Currently, we stand at a bill for taxpayers for over £1.5bn pounds a year and that’ll just go up if we do nothing,” stated Patel.

When the UK Home Secretary was pressed further on the expediency of the deal in light of a similar arrangement between Israel and Rwanda that was in force from 2014 to 2017, which saw “many of those people ending up in the hands of people traffickers, murdered, raped, tortured, and enslaved”, she replied:

“The answer is yes.”

Patel pointed out that Rwanda had resettled more than 130,000 refugees from Africa, neighbouring countries, underscoring they “do that incredibly well”.

Priti Patel steered clear of setting out numerical targets for the plan, saying this would be “unrealistic”.

“I am not going to get into numbers,” said the minister, insisting:

“We are ready to operationalise and that is incredibly important. Our teams have been coming here for months.”

She added the plan was not conditional on the Nationality and Borders Bill becoming law.

On Thursday, in response to the escalating migrant crisis, Boris Johnson announced his plan to deport unauthorised asylum seekers crossing the English Channel over to Rwanda for processing. In line with the measure, those seeking sanctuary in the UK would be flown to the African country, with the plan set to apply to adults who had arrived since January, with children and their parents not sent. After the asylum claims are processed within a period of three months, those who are successful would be able to stay for at least five years with a training and support package set aside for them.

The first flight is expected to leave before the end of next month, the Daily Mail cited a source as saying, adding anyone who has arrived in Britain this year could be sent.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson had stated on Thursday during a press conference in Kent that the Royal Navy was now taking over “operational command” in the Channel from the Border Force.

The Ministry of Defence will bolster Border Force with an offshore patrol vessel, up to six patrol boats, and one Wildcat helicopter operating in the Channel, PA Media has reported.The MoD has secured £50m to implement its role in the Channel and provide additional capabilities, added the report.

Immigration Minister Tom Pursglove was cited by Sky News as saying it was vital that people be stopped from “putting their lives in the hands of these evil criminal gangs” running cross-channel boats.

“The point I would make is that we are determined to get on and deliver this policy as quickly as possible without needless delay,” he said.

‘Immoral Plan at Eye-Watering Costs’

However, the scheme has been criticised by the opposition politicians, human rights bodies and campaign groups as “evil”, “cruel” and costly.

Conservative former cabinet minister Andrew Mitchell said the plan was “immoral” and entailed “eye-watering” costs.

“The problem with the scheme that they have announced is that I don't think it will work. It is impractical, it is being condemned by churches and civil society, it is immoral and, above all for conservative advocates, it is incredible expensive. The costs are eye-watering. You're going to send people 6,000 miles into central Africa - it looked when it was discussed in Parliament before that it would actually be cheaper to put each asylum seeker in the Ritz hotel in London,” the ex-international development secretary said on BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

The UK Labour Party accused the Prime Minister of trying to distract voters from the “Partygate” scandal with the “unworkable, unethical and extortionate” scheme.

Many MPs have warned there is a danger that the announced plans will lead to a surge in crossings.

“All this will do is mean we'll see a vast amount of people trying [to cross] now before this comes in,” MP Simon Hoare was cited as saying.

Over 160 British organisations, such as Liberty, Stonewall and Greenpeace, have penned an open letter to the Prime Minister and Home Secretary in protest at the Rwanda plan.

Boris Johnson has acknowledged that the measure would be “challenged in the courts,” but insisted the partnership will be “fully compliant with our international legal obligations,” adding that it would “save countless lives” by cracking down on the efforts of “vile people smugglers” who sought to turn the Channel into a “watery graveyard.”