The government’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda for processing could violate the Geneva Conventions, a colleague suggested.
Former child refugee and Labor peer Alf Dubs has said ministers will face opposition from the Lords over a plan unveiled by Home Secretary Priti Patel and Prime Minister Boris Johnson this week.
In an interview with The Guardian, Lord Dubs said the government was trying to “ride rough” on international agreements.
He said: “I think this is a way to get rid of people who the government does not want, to throw them out in a distant African country, and they will not have a chance to get out of there again.
“I think this is a violation of the 1951 Geneva Refugee Conventions. You can’t just walk around them as unwanted people.
Lord Alf Dubs condemns Pretty Patel’s plan (Julien Behal / Maxwells / PA)
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This comes as it has been reported that Ms Patel has taken the rare step of issuing a ministerial instruction to allay public officials’ concerns about whether the concept will provide value for money.
As part of a plan to curb migrants crossing the English Channel in small boats, those believed to have entered the UK illegally from 1 January could be sent to Rwanda, where they will be allowed to apply for asylum in the African country.
According to the Daily Telegraph, the alleged use of ministerial leadership by the interior minister is only the second deployment of power within the interior ministry in 30 years.
The Interior Ministry declined to comment.
The plan comes amid fears of an increase in migrant migration to the UK
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Speaking to Times Radio on Saturday, Shadow Prison Minister Eli Reeves said: “The UNHCR (UNHCR) has come out really, really strongly condemning the proposals of the government, as well as many organizations, and government officials seem to have expressed huge concerns about plans that seem completely wrong. “
The Labor politician said: “The government will pay £ 120 million in advance before an asylum seeker is sent to Rwanda.
“Asylum seekers say that will not stop them from crossing the English Channel.
“We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, so it doesn’t seem like the right way to spend money on an unethical and non-working scheme that won’t stop people from coming.”
She later added: “The whole system needs to be reconsidered, so instead of making broad statements – those messages that are completely inoperable and incredibly expensive – what the government actually needs to do is deal with the system and to put in place a system that actually works, increases prosecution and curbs criminal gangs. “
But Ms Patel said Denmark could be among those who would reproduce the “plan” of the UK government.
Ms. Patel and the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Rwanda Vincent Biruta
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“Now there is no doubt that the model we have presented, I am convinced, is world-class and for the first time in the world and will be used as a plan for the future, there is no doubt about that,” said Ms. Patel.
“I would not be surprised if other countries start coming to us directly against this background.
The interior minister said Copenhagen was also in talks with Rwanda, adding that the Council of Europe “also essentially said it was interested in working with us”.
The interior ministry has denied that his approach violates refugee agreements.
But Lord Dubs, who came to the United Kingdom from what was then Czechoslovakia on one of the Kindertransport trains in 1939, told The Guardian that there would be legal challenges and opposition from colleagues.
“If (Ms. Patel) says she will get rid of the claims of the left-wing lawyers, well, I think she may have something else to do. “My understanding is that they will have real difficulties to deal with this anyway,” he said.
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