Rwanda asylum seekers plan branded 'inhumane'

PM outlines proposal to send people 4,500 miles on one-way tickets

- Rajeev Syal

Boris Johnson's plan to send some asylum seekers to Rwanda on a one-way ticket has been roundly condemned amid warnings that it will be challenged in the courts and could result in more deaths in the Channel.

After the prime minister outlined proposals to hand an initial downpayment of £120m to the Rwandan government in the hope it will accept “tens of thousands” of people, opposition politicians and refugee groups condemned the move as inhumane, unworkable and a waste of money.

The Rwanda proposal is one of a series of measures announced by the prime minister and Priti Patel, the home secretary, as they seek to get to grips with a febrile political row over Channel crossings. The number of people crossing has already passed 5,000 this year, more than double the 2021 figure at the same point.

Amid calls for the government to disclose the overall costs of the plans, which have not been released, it emerged that: Men and women could be flown 4,500 miles to Rwanda, where they will be encouraged to apply for refugee status. However, children and their parents would not be sent.

The Royal Navy has been given powers to control the Channel after another day of hundreds of people arriving in small boats to seek refuge in the UK.

Tobias Ellwood, the Conservative chair of the defence select committee, accused Johnson of announcing the plans as part of a "massive distraction” from becoming the first prime minister to be found guilty of a criminal charge while in office.

A Border Force union official has said the announcement will result in a short-term rise in refugees trying to get across the Channel, with an elevated risk of crossing in poor conditions, putting lives at risk.

A snap poll by YouGov of almost 3,000 voters yesterday found that only 35% of people supported the measure, while 43% opposed it.