Britain’s new Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that he will not continue with the previous Conservative government’s plan to deport migrants to Rwanda. The controversial deportation scheme, pushed by ex-prime minister Rishi Sunak to “stop the boats,” has faced opposition from rights groups and judicial rulings.
Labour has decided to scrap the plan to remove people to Rwanda, focusing instead on tackling the issue at its root by targeting people-smuggling gangs. Starmer has proposed the creation of a new Border Security Command, involving immigration and law enforcement specialists, as well as the domestic intelligence service MI5.
Since Brexit in 2020, immigration has become a central political issue in the UK, with promises to “take back control” of the country’s borders. The number of people making the crossing to Britain has increased, with 12,313 crossings so far this year, compared to 29,437 arrivals in 2023, a decrease from the record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.
Starmer has criticized Sunak’s policy as ineffective and costly, stating that gimmicks like the Rwanda scheme do not serve as deterrents. He aims to address the issue upstream by targeting the criminal networks facilitating illegal crossings. The decision to abandon the deportation scheme marks a shift in the government’s approach to immigration enforcement.
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