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Outrage as British Govt Plans to Send Migrants to Rwanda

The British government is facing strong backlash from opposition parties and human rights groups after announcing plans earlier this month to send asylum-seekers to Rwanda for processing, in a bid to deter migrants from crossing the English Channel in small boats.

The British government says the prospect of being sent to Rwanda will deter migrants from embarking on the treacherous journey.

More than 4,500 migrants have crossed the English Channel from France to Britain in small boats this year, four times more than the total this time in 2021. There have been dozens of fatalities, including 27 migrants who drowned when their boat capsized off the northern French coast in November 2021

Britain's latest plan is to fly migrants more than 6,000 kilometers to Rwanda, where they will be put in holding centers while their asylum claims are processed. Britain's home secretary, Priti Patel, signed the policy alongside Vincent Biruta, Rwanda's minister of foreign affairs, during a visit to Kigali earlier this month.

Migrant support groups say Britain should not be outsourcing refugee processing to Rwanda, a country where London itself has flagged human rights concerns, reports Henry Ridgewell for Voice of America.

InFocus

Alessio Romenzi/UNICEF

Migrants sit in the courtyard of a detention centre in Libya (file photo).

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