The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, has ended the Rwanda scheme, which she has condemned as ‘a gimmick’. Instead, she has launched a new border security group which will probe the tactics used by people smugglers.
Keir Starmer has said that the policy was ‘never a deterrent’, as the number of refugees arriving in small boats had actually increased since it was introduced.
Instead, new legislation will be introduced to include counter-terror style measures against the smuggling gangs.
Although relieved at the scrapping of the Rwanda plan, which has cost almost £300 million and considerable anguish among asylum seekers at risk of deportation, refugees and 300 human rights organisations have demanded further significant changes to asylum policy.
These include:
Restoring the right to seek asylum in the UK in line with international law, by repealing the Illegal Migration Act and the Nationality and Borders Act.
Opening safe routes for people seeking asylum to reach the UK so that people are not forced to risk their lives in the Channel, including providing visa routes, enabling families to reunite safely, and rebuilding refugee resettlement.
Housing people seeking asylum in communities, not camps, and close down all institutional accommodation including barracks, barges, hotels and hostels, which cause unnecessary lasting harm at an eye-watering cost to the taxpayer.