UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said that the UK-Rwanda migration deal will finally get operational within a period of 10 to 12 weeks as the first flight of illegal migrants from the UK will fly to Rwanda.
Signed in December last year in Kigali by the foreign ministers of the two countries, the deal seeks to revive the Migration and Economic Development Partnership (MEDP), which was ruled unlawful by the UK Supreme Court in November of the same year.
The arrangement aims to relocate people who arrive in the UK in small boats to Rwanda where they could claim asylum.
"I can confirm that we have put an airfield on standby, booked commercial charter planes for specific slots and we have 500 highly trained individuals ready to escort illegal migrants all the way to Rwanda with 300 more trained in the coming weeks,” Sunak said in a press conference on Monday, April 22.
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Referring to the deal as "one of the most complex operational endeavours” that the UK Home Office has carried out, he insisted that the country is ready to have it implemented and has proper plans in place for this.
Sunak pointed out the advantages of the deal, including discouraging people from taking dangerous trips to the UK on small boats on which many people have died.
"I know there are some who will hear all of this and accuse me of lacking compassion. But the truth is the opposite. We are in a battle with callous, sophisticated and global criminal gangs who care nothing for the lives they risk in unseaworthy dinggies,” he said.
"Nine people have died already attempting to cross the channel just this year including a seven-year-old girl. That's why we have secured the largest ever deal with France to strengthen interceptions on the French Coastline. And because a third of all arrivals were coming from Albania, we struck a deal that reduced illegal Albanian migrants by 90 percent,” he added.
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He thanked the government of Rwanda for the readiness it has showcased in playing a key role in solving the migration crisis through making effort to implement the UK-migration deal.
"Rwanda is ready too and I would like to thank the government of Rwanda for their work in strengthening their asylum system, passing legislation and setting up a new appeals tribunal,” he said.
Rwanda set up an independent committee to audit the implementation of the agreement, in addition to which there will be an appeal institution to which migrants can go in case of anything they deem unfair.
The appeal institution will be headed by a Rwandan judge working together with another counterpart from a commonwealth country. It will also employ more judges from various commonwealth countries, with knowledge on human rights.
Sunak said his government is working "flat-out” to deliver the deal which he referred to as a "genuine game changer.”
"The first flight will leave in 10 to 12 weeks. Now, of course, that is later than we wanted. But we have always been clear that processing will take time,” he noted.