What do you think about asylum seekers being sent to Rwanda?

[lurkinglittleladybug]

Just seen on the news that some of the asylum seekers arriving here on boats will be sent to Rwanda…

Do you think this will discourage people from making the dangerous journey across the channel? Is this the answer?

Im not sure what to think about it, seems a bit random… Why Rwanda?

But I guess something needs to be done to discourage people from paying these criminal gangs to set them up with unsafe boats with the intention of coming to the UK… What does everyone else think about this?

I can understand people risking their lives in these boats, but their childrens' lives? No. It must surely be better to claim asylum in France than risk the lives of their children at sea. Nothing in europe is so bad or so perilous that they could not claim asylum there.

None of the arguments I hear about people speaking the language or having family here would make me put a life jacket on my baby, child or toddler and launch them into the dark of the sea on nothing but hope. That would have to be an absolute life or death last resort and it simply is not - not when you are already in France.

Not being goady, how would 'safe routes' work? If you are in danger in your country from the regime/conflict or whatever, they are unlikely to say off you pop. My Grandparents tried to escape Nazi Germany under the visa regime, they were not allowed to do so, despite a 'safe route' existing.

Absolutely. A policy by a failing government designed to appeal to racists, placate the right wing of the party and probably lining the pockets of Conservative party downers.

Blimey. I thought I'd seen all the arguments on asylum seeker threads. But it's not safe for our women, so I support sending them to be unsafe towards women in a 3rd country is quite a position to take.

Did you think that through before you said it? Why should Rwandan women have to put up with it because our government can't be bothered to deal with it's responsibilities.

Sorry to burst your bubble, but plenty of men brought up with "Western values" rape and harass women.

Not sure that the Rwanda plan is going to be practically of any use. But I agree, it's a serious problem that we have an influx of young males from Islamist countries where they have been inculcated with misogyny and disrespect for women. There was a long thread on fwr about this very topic recently, with some harrowing testimony from women.

I think it’s appalling.
Rwanda may well be a lovely place but has a well documented history of inhumane behaviour towards refugees. At one point the deal was that they were going to send some of their unwanted to us in exchange; if this is still the case then it seems v ineffective. In fact the only point would appear to be to inflame hatred and unfortunately that seems to be working.

If they were stopped coming over in the first place there would be no need to send them to Rawanda

The idea of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda does seem like a random place to choose…

I wonder if it will be a deterrent to people choosing to come over on the boats though? I mean would they not prefer to stay in France rather then end up in Rwanda?

Seems a bit of a wild card kind of plan though… But then something does need to be done, the situation has been getting out of hand for some time.

I don’t think it would be considered acceptable to just rock up in a boat in most countries to be fair🤔

I think loads of things about it, but one that seems most relevant given some of the comments on this threads, is that its another Tory ultra-Right preening invention designed to appeal to thick racists with swinging rocks for hearts.

Also not sure if it makes any difference to people’s opinions but the majority of the asylum seekers coming across by boat are young males … There’s not as many women and children (although there will be some, and I can’t imagine making a choice to put a child on a boat!)

how would 'safe routes' work?

At the very least, an asylum processing Centre in Calais and other third countries, eg Turkey. Some asylum seekers have links to the UK. It's not good enough to say "stay in the nearest safe country". Countries such as, eg, Lebanon and Turkey take many, many, many times the number of asylum seekers as the UK. The UK is a wealthy country and needs to do its part, not hide behind its sea borders.

I don’t think it would be considered acceptable to just rock up in a boat in most countries to be fair🤔 well that’s exactly what the Vietnamese were forced to do in the 70s. Asylum seekers arrive any way they can. Is it more acceptable to come by car? I mean most people are concerned about saving the refugees lives not that they come in a more upmarket vehicle.
Are the nice white refugees being shipped off to Rwanda or just those pesky brown ones? Tell you what go and find some water outside and sit in it for ten minutes and then tell me how desperate you think those people might be to float out to sea in an overloaded inflatable boat.

If they are genuine asylum seekers they should not mind Rwanda as it has been checked and declared a safe and supportive country. It seems a good option as our infrastructure cannot support the number of migrants arriving. If the system gets established only genuine asylum seekers would attempt the journey to UK.

It seems a good option as our infrastructure cannot support the number of migrants arriving

Because Rwanda, ranked 116th wealthiest country in the world, can afford much better infrastructure than the UK, ranked 4th wealthiest country in the world.

Sorry, typo, 5th wealthiest.

Even though the country is wealthy, that wealth is not going into resources that we would need to support everyone in need including the asylum seekers. We have a massive shortage of council houses, limited school places, not enough money funding the NHS (don’t get me started on NHS dentists). The country is in crisis, because this ‘wealth’ isn’t going into the places it needs to be. The government need to put lots more funding into these areas if we are expected to accommodate a large number of asylum seekers.

I can’t see the government doing that somehow…

I totally agree with your last post but it's a case of "won't" not "can't" which comes back to this government trying to appeal to a certain type of voter. Fortunately those voters are unlikely to be enough to save them at the next election. I can't really see why they are making so much effort on this this issue to try to win them over. I suppose they are aware they aren't going to be winning any votes on the economy, NHS, education or Brexit so they're going for what they can.

Hopefully a new government will address the infrastructure issue.

My thoughts…

No strong feelings either way about Rwanda, it seems a bit random but I don’t hear any other viable short term solutions suggested which solve the practical problem of where to keep them while their applications are processed. Does it work out cheaper to send them to Rwanda than pay to keep them in uk hotels? Obviously anything that saves money would be welcome. Surely it doesn’t matter where they are while their claim is being processed as they just need to be kept safe, and they aren’t allowed to work, so cannot earn their own money. At least it would stop the ones who aren’t genuine disappearing.

The main thing that needs to be done ASAP is to stop the dangerous boat crossings which risk lives and take up the time and resources of the emergency services, which are already stretched.

I find it strange that no government, uk or other, can track down the people smugglers and prosecute them. It is almost like the government’s of all countries are turning a blind eye, which in my view makes them complicit.

It seems many are keen to get to the uk despite already being in a safe place (France). We need to understand why this is. If it’s because of relatives being here that is one thing. If it is the ease of the black economy, maybe we need ID cards to stop this.

How are refugees housed and kept in France? What do they get given? I feel that all Western European countries should offer the same package to refugees, it should be uniform all over so that there is no financial incentive to come here.

It may be better to set up asylum checkpoints in the first safe country next to countries which are at war to process the claims nearer to home and allocate refugees fairly. This should be done swiftly, and on a short term basis like with the Ukrainian ones.

Regarding economic migrants, these should be done fairly through the proper legal channels and people should be deported if found to have entered illegally.

Economic migration is a fair reason, and we need routes for this, it makes me so angry there's so few routes, but that is madness.

We do have routes for economic migrants, they’re called student and work visas. We just don’t have an unlimited number and the backlog is close to a year’s wait.

We currently refuse only 23% of asylum applications. That means that, despite having immigration authorities who would love to find a reason to refuse, 77% are found to be genuine. Under this proposal, we would be spending a fortune shipping that 77% off to Rwanda only to have to spend more money bringing them back again.

Unless it’s changed, asylum seekers get housed here while their application is being processed and if rejected can either go to Rwanda while appealing or go back to home country?

No, your figures are off. Look at attached from Eurostat ( source in header of table)

We accepted 15,684 asylum seekers in 2021, while France accepted 31,280 asylum seekers. But France has a population density less than half of what we do, so it’s only fair for them to take more as they literally have more land/space.

Really shocked towards peoples attitudes towards Rwanda on here. Why not give some refugees the opportunity to start a new life there? As usual, the ones who are on here accusing others of racism are the ones who are actually unwittingly revealing their own internalised racism. It’s not a fate worse than death for some to be given asylum in Africa rather than Europe. Plenty of people live in Africa you know and they don’t all look like something from a Live Aid advert 🙄