During his tenure as the British Chancellor, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reportedly harbored doubts about the effectiveness of the government's plan to send migrants to Rwanda to curb channel crossings. Documents from March 2022, seen by the BBC, suggest that Sunak questioned the plan's efficacy, expressing concerns about its cost and proposing alternatives like using hotels over reception centers for migrants.
The plan to send migrants to Rwanda was launched in April 2022 by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson, with the aim of deterring illegal boat arrivals in the UK. However, Sunak, as Chancellor, was skeptical about the cost-effectiveness of the plan, preferring hotels over reception centers and expressing doubts about its ability to stop channel crossings.
Interestingly, when Sunak assumed the role of Prime Minister in 2022, the Rwanda Bill became a central element of his strategy to address the issue of illegal boat arrivals. Despite his earlier reservations, Sunak prioritized the plan as one of his key policies, aiming to send individuals arriving in the UK illegally after January 1, 2022, to Rwanda, located over 6,400 km away.
However, the UK's Supreme Court later rejected the plans to send migrants to Rwanda, deeming it unlawful and posing a risk to the individuals involved.
Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper criticized Sunak, stating that as Chancellor, he resisted the costly plan, recognizing its ineffectiveness. She suggested that Sunak's subsequent commitment to allocate funds to Rwanda without implementing the plan was a desperate move to bolster his leadership amid new challenges.
These revelations about Sunak's initial doubts and subsequent policy shifts add complexity to the ongoing discussions about the UK's approach to handling migration and channel crossings.
(With Agency Inputs)
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