The House of Lords of the British Parliament passed a bill late at night local time on April 22 to allow illegal immigrants to be deported to Rwanda.
In recent years, illegal immigrants have been smuggled from France to the UK via the English Channel by boat. The plan to send illegal immigrants to the African country of Rwanda was launched during Boris Johnson's tenure as British prime minister. In April 2022, the UK reached an agreement with Rwanda to send illegal immigrants arriving in the UK to Rwanda, an East African country 6,400 kilometers away from the UK, and to provide Rwanda with corresponding funds.
The so-called "Rwanda Plan" has been controversial from the outset, with widespread opposition both in the UK and internationally.
Labour's shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper: The policies announced by the government are unworkable, immoral and extortion for UK taxpayers.
FILIPPO GRANDI, HIGH COMMISSIONER OF THE UNHCR UNHCR (HCR): We think that this approach is completely wrong, this agreement is completely wrong. People come to a country to seek asylum, especially if it is a party to the Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and has an agency dealing with refugee issues, but it transfers responsibility to another country. This is contrary to all these concepts of shared responsibility, international responsibility and so on.
The opposition Labour Party also accused the so-called "Rwanda Plan" of not fundamentally addressing the problem of illegal immigration.
According to CNN, the bill has been delayed for a long time as the House of Lords of the British Parliament has been trying to amend the bill. The bill is being sent back and forth between the two houses of Parliament, a process commonly known as "ping-pong" that has been going on for months. Every time the House of Lords makes changes to the bill, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's Conservative majority House of Commons votes to remove the amendments.
CNN also said that the British government has spent £220 million on the plan so far. This leaves Prime Minister Rishi Sunak likely to be criticized by both the left and the right, who can say that the policy violates international human rights law, but also that it is costly and ineffective.
Scholar: The West wants to preserve its image but doesn't want illegal immigration
Anand Menon, a professor at King's College London, said: "The problem is that Western countries want to portray themselves as kind, generous and humanitarian, and then they want to keep people out." ”
Critics point out that many of the countries of origin of these illegal immigrants arriving in Britain are mired in war and poverty, and that the predicament of these countries has always been accompanied by long-term and brutal interference by Britain and other Western countries. However, now, Western countries are shirking their responsibilities and shifting the blame on each other on the issue of migration, which cannot but make people feel very chilled.
Regarding the passage of the bill by the House of Lords of the British Parliament, some netizens said: This is too despicable.
(Source: CCTV News)