British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Friday that his plan to deport illegal migrants to Rwanda was
"a good investment"
, even if the public spending control body warned of the gigantic cost of the system.
Conservative Rishi Sunak has made this very controversial project a pillar of his policy to combat illegal immigration and hopes to be able to implement it before the legislative elections scheduled for this year.
In mid-January, he called it an
“urgent national priority”
.
Project worth 580 million euros
The current bill, criticized by both the United Nations and the Anglican Church, was drafted in response to the British Supreme Court, which ruled in mid-November that it was illegal to send migrants to Rwanda, considering that the country could not be considered safe.
The government has not given the total cost of the project, but according to a report by the National Audit Office (NAO), the public spending watchdog, it could exceed £500 million ($583.7 million). euros).
“The British government will contribute £370 million (€432.1 million) under the UK-Rwanda partnership, an additional £20,000 per person and £120 million once the first 300 people will have been relocated, plus 150,874 pounds per person for processing and operating costs
,” summarizes the NAO.
The United Kingdom would thus pay 1.8 million pounds for each of the first 300 migrants deported.
The Labor Party quickly cried
“national scandal”
,
“fiasco”
.
“Good investment”
Rishi Sunak for his part affirmed that this project was
“a good investment”
.
In order to stop migrant arrivals,
“we need a deterrent effect.
"We need to be able to say that if you come here illegally, you won't be able to stay, we can deport you to a safe country
," he added.
Rwanda presents itself as one of the most stable countries on the African continent, but several human rights groups accuse President Paul Kagame of governing in a climate of fear, stifling dissent and freedom of expression.
Paul Kagame has been the de facto leader of this small country in the Great Lakes region since the end of the Tutsi genocide in 1994. He was returned to power, with more than 90% of the vote in the 2003, 2010 and 2017 elections. During his years in power, many opponents, including within his party, were imprisoned, killed or fled into exile.