Why Rwanda?

I am at a loss to understand why Home Secretary Priti Patel is planning to send illegal immigrants arriving in the UK to Rwanda. Why not send them to Scotland? After all Nicola Sturgeon wants Scotland to have control over its own immigration policies and wants to welcome migrants to help solve Scotland’s population problem which is projected to decline by the middle of the century. However, I suppose that sending migrants to Sturgeon’s Scotland would be considered a ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ and would land the UK in front of the European Court of Human Rights in no time at all.

Still, I fail to understand why Rwanda has been chosen as the place to process illegal immigrants and at an initial cost of £120 million. Surely the money would be better spent doing what we seem unable to do, which is stopping them getting to our shores in the first place. Another, cheaper, alternative is to return them to the place from whence they came to our shores, France, and to simply keep returning them on an industrial scale until they realise that attempting to enter the UK illegally is a fruitless endeavour. Perhaps the job could be given to P&O Ferries at no cost to the UK taxpayer to atone for their shocking disregard of UK employment law when they sacked their British workforce. Also, why are we ‘processing’ anyone who arrives illegally in the UK? What is there to process? We should be imprisoning them or, if we know their country of origin, deporting them back to it. There are well established processes for seeking asylum in the UK, we are not monsters. But if you do not meet the criteria for asylum then back home you go. If you do happen to be fleeing a war zone then prove it by carrying a passport, instead of throwing it away before you cross the channel.

Of course, many feign shock at the idea that we do not have a policy of welcoming all and sundry to our shores whether legally or illegally. There is something about the ‘illegal’ aspect of illegal immigration that escapes the chattering classes and social justice warriors who would like to see our country transformed out of control into an alien society. Of course, they will not be affected as they undoubtedly live in areas unaffected by the presence of illegal immigrants.

The choice of Rwanda seems to be for no better reason than Denmark, which has already test-driven the route, and has famously draconian immigration policies of its own. That and the fact that the money grabbing dictator in charge of Rwanda sees an opportunity for a nice little earner. Given the reputation of African dictators for lining their own pockets it is unlikely that this money will benefit the general population of Rwanda where, according to Encyclopedia of the Nations: “Almost 90 percent of the population lives on less than US$2 per day and half of its population lives on less than US$1 per day.”

All the above said, I think that anyone considering crossing the channel on a death trap dingy can relax as Priti Patel has an established reputation for being long on promises and short on delivery. In any case, the massed ranks of the Civil Service working in the Home Office (sorry, I mean in their home offices) are promising to revolt, which probably means carrying on as normal – in other words, doing bugger all. I would love to be proved wrong, but I predict that six months from now illegal immigrants will continue to pour into the UK to be welcomed with open arms, warm blankets and a cup of tea before being ‘processed’ in the nearest Travelodge, before escaping without trace into the English countryside.

Roger Watson is a retired academic, editor and writer. He is a columnist with Unity News Network and writes regularly for a range of conservative journals including The Salisbury Review and The European Conservative. He has travelled and worked extensively in the Far East and the Middle East. He lives in Kingston upon Hull, UK.