Propose better plan than Rwanda migrant scheme, Patel challenges critics

Interior Minister Priti Patel has defended the government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda and has called on critics to come up with a better idea.

Writing a joint article in The Times with Rwandan Foreign Minister Vincent Biruta, Ms Patel described their controversial plans as “bold and innovative”.

Under the new scheme, approved refugees will have to stay in rwandainstead of returning to the UK, and those who are rejected by the Rwandan government will be deported.

It will be primarily for adults, but families could be sent there together in exceptional circumstances.

Many criticized the idea, including the Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby, who said it was “ungodly”.

The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell, used his Easter sermon to describe it as “depressing and harrowing”.

Speaking on Easter Sunday, Welby expressed concern about the idea, saying there were “serious ethical questions about sending asylum seekers abroad.”

His thoughts were echoed by Cottrell, who said the UK “can do better than this” and that it is the people who exploit asylum seekers that the country needs to “clam down”.

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In the joint article, Patel and Biruta said it is “surprising that the institutions that criticize the plans do not offer their own solutions” to address small boat crossings in the Canal.

They went on to defend the scheme saying, “It will disrupt the business model of organized crime gangs and deter immigrants from putting their lives at risk.”

Energy Minister Greg Hands reiterated the government’s challenge to those who are against the policy when he appeared on Sky News on Monday.

Hands said: “What others, the critics of this plan, need to do is show what their solution would be.

“We now have a position where last year 28,500 people crossed the canal illegally into this country, compared to just 300 in 2018.

“A growing problem: we have taken a bold and innovative step with this agreement with Rwanda to take action here and I think the British people support it.”

He denied the claim that Britain was outsourcing its responsibilities, saying it was “a deal between two sovereign countries” and that Rwanda had “a very good record of receiving refugees”.

Policy unlikely to achieve government goals, says Tory MP

Conservative MPs have widely backed the plans but have been criticized by Labor politicians, human rights groups and the United Nations.

Some Conservative MPs suggested on Twitter that religious leaders should stay out of politics, saying the two archbishops had gone too far.

Cabinet Minister Jacob Rees-Mogg suggested that the Archbishop of Canterbury had misunderstood the objectives of the policy and that the government is “taking on a very difficult responsibility”.

However, former minister Andrew Mitchell, who serves as MP for Sutton Coldfield, said that while he had “enormous sympathy” for the government, the policy was unlikely to achieve its goals.

“What worries me with the Rwanda policy is that it will not achieve what they are looking for, it is also likely to be terribly expensive, and we have to be very careful at this point with taxpayers’ money,” he argued.

Mitchell added that the “danger” is that the UK will no longer be a “beacon in a terrible and difficult world” for those fleeing persecution to trust to rescue.

The first migrants are expected to be sent to Rwanda on a charter flight in May.However, it could be delayed with the government anticipating legal challenges against the association.