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Asylum seekers to be sent 6,000 miles to Rwanda for processing under government plans to halt Channel crossings


Charities have warned the “cruel and nasty decision” will not only fail to address the issue but “lead to more human suffering and chaos” and cost an estimated £1.4bn.

The government plans to fly asylum seekers to Rwanda for processing in an attempt to tackle small boat crossings in the Channel.

Boris Johnson is set to argue action is needed to combat the “vile people smugglers” turning the ocean into a “watery graveyard” in a speech on Thursday.

After the prime minister’s speech, Home Secretary Priti Patel is expected to set out further details of a “migration and economic development partnership” with Rwanda after she visited the East African nation.

Charities have warned that the “cruel and nasty decision” to “offshore” some asylum seekers more than 6,000 miles away will not only fail to address the issue but “lead to more human suffering and chaos” and cost an estimated £1.4bn.

Mr Johnson will warn the number of people making the crossing across the Channel could reach 1,000 a day within weeks. Around 600 people arrived on Wednesday.

“I accept that these people – whether 600 or 1,000 – are in search of a better life, the opportunities that the United Kingdom provides and the hope of a fresh start,” he is expected to say.

“But it is these hopes – these dreams – that have been exploited. These vile people smugglers are abusing the vulnerable and turning the Channel into a watery graveyard, with men, women and children drowning in unseaworthy boats and suffocating in refrigerated lorries.”

source sky news