Great Britain: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak bets on deportation policy to Rwanda

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Rishi Sunak: The British Prime Minister wants to deport people who come to the country irregularly to Rwanda - without taking into account where they actually come from

Photo: Peter Morrison / AP

A momentous handshake: British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is being criticized for a bet on his planned deportation policy to Rwanda. The bet was started by journalist Pierce Morgan.

"I'll bet you £1,000 to a refugee charity that you can't get people on one of the planes before the next election," Morgan said in a video released on Monday, extending his hand to Sunak. “Would you take this bet?”

Of course he wanted to get people on these planes, the Prime Minister replied. He then gave Morgan his hand.

Sunak commented on the criticism of the bet on Tuesday. Sunak told the BBC that he was not a fan of betting and was completely surprised by the offer. He wanted to make it clear that he was behind the project.

The conservative British government wants to deport people who come to the country irregularly to Rwanda - regardless of where they actually come from. They are supposed to ask for asylum there, but they are not allowed to return to Great Britain. In doing so, Sunak intends to scare people away. Great Britain is paying the African country a sum of millions for this.

Among others, MP Jonathan Ashworth from the opposition Labor Party criticized the bet. "Not many people who are faced with rising mortgages, bills and food prices will spend £1,000," he said, according to the PA news agency.

Sunak has been repeatedly criticized in the past for his planned deportation policy. The Supreme Court in London also stopped the project citing constitutional deficits in Rwanda. Even in the British House of Commons, Sunak was only able to collect enough votes for the project at the second attempt.

With his approach, Sunak is also reminiscent of Horst Seehofer (CSU), who presented his "Migration Master Plan" as Federal Interior Minister in 2018 - and was satisfied that 69 refugees were deported to Afghanistan on his 69th birthday.

spr/dpa