• UK UK judges consider deportations of migrants to Rwanda "legal"

The British government of Rishi Sunak confirmed on Wednesday its intention to detain irregular migrants at a pair of disused military bases located in northern and eastern England. But Secretary of State for Immigration Robert Jenrick's parliamentary announcement, which includes plans to accommodate refugees in sleeping boats, hit a wall of disbelief and opposition on both sides of the House of Commons.

Even Foreign Secretary James Cleverly opposes his own government's initiative to open Royal Air Force facilities in Wethersfield, County Essex, to male foreigners arriving in England by routes deemed illegal. Cleverly represents an area of Westminster near Stansted Airport and acknowledges his electorate's unease with the controversial plan.

Neighbors warn that the base is located in a rural area, in the middle of nowhere and without public transport services to the nearest towns. Local authorities are already preparing a legal action demanding the immediate suspension of the project, which is part of the Sunak crash plan to deter the arrival of irregular migrants and end boat crossings across the English Channel that separates France from the United Kingdom.

Former Home Secretary Priti Patel, who is also an MP from Essex, expressed solidarity with Cleverly and recalled that an old base area in the north of the country, with similar characteristics in terms of infrastructure, services or rural habitat, was finally ruled out as a space to accommodate single refugees. "Wethersfield is no different," protested the initial promoter of the program to export refugees to Rwanda, which has not yet taken off due to court disputes.

The second base chosen by the Sinak executive in Lincolnshire played a crucial role in a bombing operation by Germany during World War II, which brought MPs to their feet in the debate in the Commons. Conservative Edward Leigh predicted there would be protests against the "very bad decision that is not based on good governance, but on the policy of trying to do something."

Sunak has promised to put an end to the boats of the Channel. It also seeks to reduce the almost seven million euros a day that Foreign Affairs (through the Foreign Assistance program) is currently spending on housing some 51,000 asylum seekers in 395 hotels. More than 160,000 refugees are waiting for Immigration to complete the processing of their forms.

"We want to evict people from hotels as soon as possible and move them to a more rudimentary type of accommodation, which will reduce the pull factor to the UK, as well as defend the interests of the taxpayer," Jenrick said. Other military headquarters are on the horizon, including an old barracks in the Sinak constituency, according to the secretary of state, in order to provide bed for "several thousand asylum seekers" who enter the country irregularly.

But, in addition, the Government has not ruled out placing migrants in sleeping boats or on ferries moored to ports. This was suggested by Jenrick when he pointed out in the Commons, giving as an example initiatives adopted in Amsterdam and Scotland, that "we continue to explore the possibility of accommodating migrants in boats". Previous ambitions to detain refugees and criminals on ships sank before leaving shore.

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  • Germany
  • United Kingdom
  • Refugees