I know, why don't we send them all to Rwanda?

[Weighnow]

Does anyone else think this sounds like a suggestion someone made as a joke, to liven up a dull or fraught meeting and somehow, someone decided to run with it?

Labour keep saying they want a 'returns agreement' with the EU - safe in the knowledge that the UK was a net recipient of asylum seekers under the Dublin Agreement. The EU 'returned' more asylum seekers to us than we returned to them - I don't see why a new agreement would be any different. Not to mention that Italy and Greece have been refusing to take back asylum seekers anyway because they are overwhelmed.

The biggest abusers of women and girls in the Uk is white men, followed by children to children abuse. to suggest otherwise is dumb at best. Anyway, how does the Rwanda policy tackle this issue then?

it would be counterproductive for Labour to state what their policy would be when the government is digging themselves into an ever deeper hole over this. Never interrupt your enemy when he is in the middle of making a mistake.

Notonthestairs
£370 million in set up costs in Rwanda

I don't think the bulk of this money is 'set up costs' as such - it's payments to the Economic Transformation and Integration Fund (ETIF) designed to support economic growth in Rwanda.

So, a bit like the overseas aid budget. If Labour scrap the scheme and then increase the overseas aid budget (which they previously said they would) - will we end up sending Rwanda a similar amount of funding anyway?

I think they tried on a visit but got knocked back plus ‘smash the gangs’

Next up was Albania for processing but that’s drifted off

I doubt they’ll have much to go on

English IS spoken in most countries of Africa or the ME. You were probably trying to say that most such countries have French as a common language. But in any case there are 220 million English speakers in Africa, and only 125 million French speakers. I suspect the same is true for the ME.

The EU has come to an agreement on asylum and migration which will likely stop more boats than Rwanda

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/10/eu-passes-asylum-and-migration-pact-after-eight-years-of-deadlock

Starmer doesn't have to offer the solution yet. He is not in power.

Once a GE is called, then election manifestos will be published.

Until then Starmer is wise to keep plans under wraps, sit back and watch the Tories continue to make fuck up after fuck up after fuck up.

The EU isn’t immune to criticism from the same groups

“After years of negotiations, EU institutions are now shamefully co-signing an agreement that they know will lead to greater human suffering,” she said.

“For people escaping conflict, persecution or economic insecurity these reforms will mean less protection and a greater risk of facing human rights violations across Europe – including illegal and violent pushbacks, arbitrary detention and discriminatory policing.

Oxfam had earlier denounced the pact as a recipe for “deterrents, detention and deportation” rather than protection of human rights.

MEPs on the left and the Greens, who voted against eight of the 10 pieces of proposed legislation on the table, also criticised the bill for failing to prioritise guarantees for human rights.

Rightwing politicians had their own reasons for opposing the reforms, arguing that the new laws did not go far enough and would cause a spike in migration.’

The right think it will cause a spike so I guess we’ll see

You are joking?

Yes, I think it was quite clear the poster who first mentioned benefits claimants was joking. But it the same meeting, who knows what might happen...

and everyone who gets child benefit

Easy mistake to make. Hatred of benefit claimants is right up there with hatred of immigrants amongst some Mumsnetters.

@LilacFatball and the state pension.

Of course, it's not a benefit if you get it. It's only a benefit if it's something you don't receive yourself and thus inherently wrong.

I do think something has to be done though. Another child, 4 yrs old died today on an overloaded boat - I just watched the BBC footage it was crazy, loads of people desperately trying to clamber on board and the smugglers walking around the circle of people with large sticks to fight off the French police - it’s just awful

My point exactly!

Woohow
We blamed EU migrants before even though they were net contributors too!

Considering we had twice as many people apply to the EU settlement scheme than we were expecting, I can't see how the data for that study was reliable.

Asylum seekers living in hotels receive an allowance of £1.27 a day, £8.86 a week for day-to-day living, clothing, travel and any leisure activities

Life of Riley

I just looked it up it looks desperate

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-68882577.amp

Did you see that Rwanda/Rwandan Tourist Board are sponsoring Arsenal's first team kit? Visit Rwanda on the sleeve;

arsenaldirect.arsenal.com/Football-Shirts-and-Kit/c/kit

The Foreign Office's current travel advice on Rwanda warns LGBT+ people that they may experience "discrimination and abuse, including from local authorities"

Yes I’m sure if WW3 breaks out we will all be on boats trying to get to France. Not.
Reality is that Britain is tiny. I’m not sure where people expect illegal immigrants to be housed when we haven’t got enough stock for British citizens and legal immigrants.

If war breaks out here, what would you do then? Wave your white flag and hope they take pity on you?

Presumably, the thinking is it will act as a deterrent, and stop people trying to get here in the first place. But why the government think people who are prepared to pay thousands of pounds and risk their lives to get to the UK would be put off by a tiny chance of being sent to Rwanda, I have no idea. To reduce the numbers they need to crack down on the criminal gangs organising bringing people here, and work with other EU countries. This is an utter waste of time and money.

It doesn't get a very good write-up here, although I appreciate it's Hungary and Poland;

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki lambasted the European Union’s Migration and Asylum Pact for not resolving the migration crisis, instead reaffirming the open borders policy of the EU. The conservative politicians were speaking at a press conference in the European Parliament (EP) on Tuesday, April 16th, one day before the start of an EU leaders’ summit in Brussels.

The Migration and Asylum Pact was recently adopted by the left-liberal majority of the EP, and has been harshly criticised by conservative and right-wing forces in Europe for infringing on nation-states’ sovereignty, and—in effect—sending out a letter of invitation to migrants wanting to reach the continent. The most controversial part of the pact is the ‘mandatory solidarity mechanism’—a tool forcing countries to choose between accepting migrants or paying hefty sums into a common fund.

Is this the sort of pact Keir Starmer will sign up to if he becomes PM?

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/hungary-and-poland-warn-asylum-and-migration-pact-would-be-disaster-for-eu/