LONDON (Reuters) - Home Secretary Suella Braverman is thrilled as she visits Rwanda to lay the groundwork for the first centre to receive asylum seekers deported from Britain to the African country.
Pictures of the British minister moving around the construction site of a reception center for asylum seekers with 500 housing units and signs of joy on her face have spread, especially since her government headed by Rishi Sunak raised the slogan of stopping the arrival of small migrant boats to the country, and considers the deportation of those who arrived as a top priority.
Despite all the warnings that the move to deport refugees to Rwanda is illegal and that it will not be effective in limiting the arrival of refugees by small boat through the canal between it and France, in addition to its high cost, Sunak's government is pushing ahead with it and paved it with a controversial law that allows the Home Office to deport anyone who arrives by boat and prevent them from applying for asylum.
Britain takes firm action to prevent asylum seekers from reaching through the canal with France, threatens to deport them to Rwanda (French)
What is the origin of the idea?
The idea of deporting refugees to another country outside Britain began with former British Home Secretary Priti Patel, who was considered one of the most hardliners on the subject of immigrants, and since 2019 she has been promoting the Australian model in dealing with refugees by deporting them to a third destination.
There were plenty of proposed destinations such as Albania, Ghana, Gibraltar and even some remote British islands in the South Atlantic, before the British government opted for Rwanda.
Why Rwanda?
Rwanda was previously Australia's chosen destination for the deportation of refugees, but the program did not succeed as required, yet it currently receives more than 127,<> asylum seekers who came to it from Congo, Burundi and a number of African countries, in addition to Rwanda's openness to refugee reception projects in exchange for funding.
Why is Rwanda raising so many concerns?
Rejectionists of this plan, including human rights associations and refugee protection agencies, express their fears that refugees deported to Rwanda will be subjected to human rights violations, as Human Rights Watch had previously issued a report in 2020 in which it spoke of prominent opposition names known for their criticism of the Rwandan government "subjected to arbitrary arrest and detention, ill-treatment and torture in official and unofficial places of detention."
Amnesty International also published a report in 2021 in which it reported that "opponents have been subjected to torture and a number of human rights violations that limit freedom of expression, in addition to the Rwandan government's resort to enforced disappearance in some cases."
How legal is deportation?
Britain's Supreme Court has settled the debate over the legality of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda, saying the move is legal and cannot be prevented, noting that some cases will have the right to appeal against the deportation decision.
In contrast, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled to annul the deportation of a number of asylum seekers to Rwanda, the same court that is expected to intervene again to cancel any new deportations.
UK Home Office allocates £120m to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda (Anatolia)
How much does this plan cost?
According to the Home Office, the initial cost of the deportation plan is £120 million ($147 million) and will be provided in installments to the Rwandan government.
But the real budget will be much larger, including deportation expenses and asylum processing in Rwanda, which would amount to £12,15 (about $<>,<>) per deported individual.
Britain currently pays about 1.2 billion pounds (about $1.5 billion) a year, including costs for receiving and sheltering more than 120,6 refugees, and spends about 7 million pounds (about $4.<> million) a day on hotel accommodation for asylum seekers.
The cost of deportation remains very high, especially when it comes to forced deportation, which requires the recruitment of police, security vehicles and insurance, a process that sometimes costs more than £50,61 ($<>,<>), according to the Home Office.
When will this plan be implemented?
According to the latest law voted by the British Parliament, anyone who arrives by small boat is deported and denied the right to apply for asylum, meaning the scheme can be implemented immediately.
The Rwandan government also says it is ready to receive a thousand people as a first batch, with the number gradually increasing as housing units are equipped.
But the obstacle to the British government is the cost of deportation, which, according to the Oxford Immigration Observatory, will amount to 2.5 million pounds (about $3.1 million) per flight carrying 320 people, making it the most expensive flight in the world.
The second obstacle is legal, as the Supreme Court has not ruled on the appeal filed by a group of human rights groups to review the deportation law, in addition to the possibility of the European Court of Human Rights re-intervention to annul the deportations.